


Intertwined

by NeshaTriumphs



Category: Infinity Train (Cartoon)
Genre: Au infinity train, F/M, Infinity Train AU, Infinity train - Freeform, Magic AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-07
Updated: 2020-11-11
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:48:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 26,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27432292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeshaTriumphs/pseuds/NeshaTriumphs
Summary: For 33 years, The Conductor, a usurper of magic has been growing in power. She only fears being toppled by the Witches of the One. However, she has a pupil in orphaned Simon, and she is sending him after the future of the witches, Grace, to destroy her. Amelia has been tampering with destiny for a long time, and Simon's destiny is intertwined with Grace's.
Relationships: Grace Monroe & Simon Laurent, Grace Monroe/Simon Laurent, Simon Laurent & Grace Monroe, Simon Laurent/Grace Monroe
Comments: 6
Kudos: 9





	1. He Had a Destiny

**Author's Note:**

> I don’t plan on this fic being very long, but felt like having some fantasy magic Grace & Simon, so here we are. Originally published via Tumblr blog neshatriumphs on September 26,2020.

The baby had been crying for hours. People rarely gave these creatures their proper credit for the instincts they had. Sure, they could do nothing for themselves for a very long time, but they often knew things. He knew that he was dying, not just that he was sick and in pain, but dying. The cruelty in creating something too small to care for itself but being aware of its needs. Whoever was responsible, Amelia was certain was just as cruel as the one responsible for taking people away. That was what happened to her true love... what would happen to this disgusting suckling. "He's dying," she told it's mother.

"Dying? he's only two!"

"Some don't last that long. Some are snuffed out in the womb, some die suddenly in their cribs. You've had him two years, you say. You’ll surely not have him a third."

"There must be something that you can do! Please..." 

Amelia looked at the pleading woman, then back at this child. She hadn’t been able to get her own lost love back, but the way this person felt about this child was probably as deeply as she had felt for him, and for a moment, she took pity on her.

She lifted her arm to reveal glowing green runes as she reached for the boy, chanting something in a voice that sounded distorted and somewhat robotic... the mother stood back, glancing around nervously. 

Amelia's eyes glowed and projected from their light was a vision that she knew the mother wouldn't be able to see. A blond boy, broken in sadness, uplifted by a girl with dark coils, joined together at the hands and eventually hearts, a crown placed on his head. This boy had a destiny. As she looked at the girl, turning into a woman, she didn't recognize her, but she did recognize something about her... the mark of the One. She was one of those witches that condemned Amelia for her “perversion” of magic...

Amelia shut her fist and blinked her eyes. They no longer glowed and now she stared at the boy. He wasn't going to die. He had a very important destiny... one that could make him her enemy, and if the vision was true, it would begin with the witches of the One. It would begin with a girl from their coven saving him. She looked at the mother. The woman remained hopeful.

“I think that I can save him, but it's risky and the cost will be too high for you.”

“There's nothing too high. Should I have to become a criminal or an outcast. Simon is worth all to me.”

“If the child lives, he must come with me.”

Hesitation. Everyone knew that Amelia was into forms of magic that weren’t necessarily approved. That was one of the reasons that the widow Laurent had sought her out when doctors couldn’t tell her why Simon wasn’t getting better. “What will you do to him?”

“Train him in the art of wizardry, of course. He'll be very powerful. He'll be very skilled. But, you won't see him again and he will not know your name.” 

The woman picked up her son and held him to her heart. Nothing eased his crying. She couldn't imagine his suffering, but she would do anything to end it for him. "When I said anything, I meant that. Take him. If he will live, I beg that you take him." 

Amelia smirked and retrieved the boy from his mother. It wouldn’t stop screaming. Ugh. She hated children. But, they were malleable and if she wanted to prevent what she'd seen in his future, she needed to bring him back to her lair, fix him and mold him in her own image. His mother cried and took off her scarf to swaddle him. Amelia rolled her eyes, though under the hood, the woman wouldn't see. After sad goodbyes she walked out of the cottage with the crying boy. It didn't take her long to vanish.

The widow Laurent was crying over her boy's crib whenever she heard a knock. It surprised her, so she rushed to answer it. There were three witches there, one holding a girl, about Simon's age. "Ma'am, we came as soon as we could. Where is the boy? We believe that our Grace can save him."

Mrs. Laurent looked at the little girl, with a purple dress and gloves. She looked more like a doll than a child and she certainly wasn’t old enough to save lives. "Is this a joke?" 

"We would never joke about the life of a child. Especially one like your son. He has natural Magic. He's one of us and he has a destiny, intertwined with our heiress. Her touch could heal him." 

"He's gone," she announced sadly. "I went with the one called the Conductor, who arrived the fastest, and her magic is known to work wonders. He will live, even if I never see him again..." 

16 years later

Simon crawled out of bed in his small bedroom and stretched his arms with a cracking noise, then his neck. The room was filled with shelves of supplies of his magic, treasures he had collected from his missions, and enchanted figures that he collected and made. A white cat jumped on his desk and he glanced at it. “Tell her that I’m on my way.”

“She doesn’t like to wait…” She warned.

“I know.” He stood in front of the mirror, tied onto his bicep his lucky scarf that he had since he was a baby, then dipped his pinky in a bottle labeled “the blood of my enemies,” to draw a squiggly line across his face. On the way out of the door, he summoned his brown robe to himself and let it cover him as he walked. Through the fortress, he passed several groups of others studying their magic or lounging, until they saw him and pretended to be busy being productive. He was the eldest of all of the children there, at 18, and ready to be fulfilled as an adult. They had the best quarters and went on the most courageous quests. 

He paused at the large painting of the namesake of the place, The Alrick Institute of Magic, and he saluted, by mimicking the wavy line on his face. “You’re late,” he heard his mentor’s firm voice state.

“I was paying tribute to our founder,” he said. He turned to see the bemused look on her face and nervously laughed, holding the back of his neck. 

“Come now. You have an assignment.” As they walked, it was always a different energy. The students and staff always stopped to salute, even though Amelia had never once paid them any mind. That was a practice that Simon had put into place. She explained, “We found a cavern that we believe the Witches of the One use as a conduit for their magic. You are to take everything that is in it. I will grant you six stewards.” The white cat rushed up and leapt onto his shoulder as they walked. “And of course, her. I don’t want her just roaming around here.” Simon frowned and petted the cat. “When you’ve taken the magic, decimate the cavern. We wouldn’t want their parasites to rejuvenate it.” She handed him a crystal globe and he nodded once.

Simon was the expert of this. He paid attention to detail, moved like a soldier, and thought strategically. There were numerous magical creatures here - all denizens, no witches that he noted. He made some hand gestures towards the stewards, in their black robes with their ghostly white faces. They moved in to slaughter the creatures. The cat on his shoulder shivered and said, “Is it really necessary to wipe them all out?”

“They’re either wanderers or the familiars of the One. They are enemies, Samantha.”

“They’re my brethren, Simon.” 

He rolled his green eyes, “You chose the right side.”

When the slaughter was done, the stewards returned to him and one said, “We detected no magic in them.”

Simon smiled, “That’s why she sent me.” His eyes glowed, the green burning brightly as the runes on his arms did too and he saw in the spilled blood that same green energy, and all over the trees, in the water, shimmering and glittering was the magic in this place. It wound up in a tornado form and he captured it in the sphere. There was no magic left here, only the blood of many slain denizens. He grabbed a bottle, with his empty hand and held it before him, now suctioning some blood from each of those who lay fallen into his collection. His green runes stopped glowing, as did his eyes and he placed the sphere and the bottle in his satchel. A few movements of his hand and the cave collapsed unto itself and bled, eternally, as was the curse of every spot that he claimed for the Conductor.

He pointed two fingers at the rubble and waved them across, painting their symbol in blood. Then, he turned on the balls of his feet, ready to return home with another easy victory. Samantha merely looked at another fallen magic place, put her paw in the blood, and made a print at the site. She rushed to catch up with Simon, climbing onto him and into the satchel. He smiled at her and gave her a pat on the head. 


	2. She Had a Dynasty

Grace was always pampered. She was catered to, given gifts and practiced her magic with the most proficient of practitioners. She was regarded as the brightest young witch in this land, considered the heiress to an empire built upon magic - the Order of the One. The One was considered to be where all magic came from, where all magic returned to, where all magic flourished and died. Those who believed in the One believed that while it was not of this world, it was in charge of this world. The witches of the One believed that all real magic came from a merging of the universe and what's inside of us. Nature pulls out what it needs to complete a movement of magic.

Fake Magic manipulates nature and disregards the unity between mortality and spirit. Fake Magic was creating a False Conductor, a Mock One, as a conduit for magic, stealing it from where it belonged and using it without being granted this privilege by the One...

Grace wasn’t really that into it, but as heiress and leader of all of the children of the One, she had to push the principles onto her flock and protect her properties. 

Another cavern had been hit. She frowned when she reached the site. “How does he keep doing this?” She wondered. “Spells this powerful, on fake magic?” She folded her arms and looked to her right hand, Lucy. 

Lucy frowned and said, “They steal enough natural magic that they’re beginning to grow stronger than us.”

“No! I refuse to believe that,” Grace said. She wasn’t an avid believer in the One, despite her position, but she was very confident that there wasn’t another witch as strong as her, especially not a fake one. “Stand back Lucy.” The smaller girl not only stood back but gestured for the other children with Grace to do so, as well. She didn’t realize what Grace was doing until she did it. 

Grace cut her own hands with her fingernails, put both of her hands onto the rubble, and sought out any portion of magic that may have been left behind. Anything… She noticed a paw print in blood on the stones. Something magic and still living left it there. She stooped and touched it, a light shone brightly from the spot, the pile began to rumble and Grace yelled, “Take cover!” They ran as the heap shook with the earth and Grace covered the others as the fallen rocks erupted and the blood sputtered up like a volcano and rained upon the nearby areas. 

Grace was tired, but she got up to go collect the fallen familiars that had been entrusted to this place. Her parents would be furious that she challenged a curse on her own, but she would have to remind them that not only had she challenged it… she defeated it. 

When the children cleared out the fairies and the mermaids, properly disposing of their bodies, Grace used the last of her energy to cleanse the grounds of their blood. 

“But… the Conductor’s cult will just come back and take this magic, too,” Lucy said, trying to give Grace some water. 

“You’re probably right. Create a protection spell until we can move in more denizens to guard it. Next time, we’ll place warriors here.” Lucy nodded and dug her hands into the ground, knowing that her magic was nearly as powerful as it needed to be to protect this place and hoping that they could get warriors here before those wizards came back. As a lit up shimmering green fence surrounded the remains, she smiled, proud of her work, then guided the weakened witch back to their own palace. 

.

Oh boy… were the Monroe Witches PISSED at Grace for her “scheme.” You’d think they’d be proud and delighted that she took back what was theirs from magic bandits, but noooooo… Danger, energy, usurping, etc… She was super tired and just wanted to go bath in the waterfalls. She yawned. “Yawning? Now, you’re yawning? She’s probably rendered her magic useless! How can she be tired at this time of day?” Her mother asked. She called out the names of numerous caretakers, giving them very critical instructions to replenish her daughter’s energy and her magic, and offerings to bring to the fortress of the One, on her behalf. 

Grace’s father sat next to her and asked, “How did it feel? To break the curse?”

Grace smiled deviously and she and her father secretly locked pinkies while her mother was stressing about her recovery. “It felt like I was meant to do it.” 

They dropped their hands and looked at the woman, with her hands on her hips, staring at them. “Don’t encourage her. She could have been killed. Then what would we have done?” She sat next to Grace, on the other side of her bed. “We know that you want to be a hero, but that’s not your destiny, Grace. You are meant to be a queen, preordained by the One. Your magic is special, elite, and pure. I hate that others were murdered, but it isn’t your job to make that right. You were only supposed to go and give your blessing to the memory of the fallen.”

“Their blood was just pouring out of the place. He put them in an endless cycle of death. How could I call myself a leader among us and just leave them there with some gifts?”

“The hardest part of this job is the fact that you can probably do other ones, but you shouldn’t, because your job is too important.”

“My job is to hold a title,” she complained.

“A very prestigious title that ONLY a member of our bloodline can! If something happens to you, the Monroe family dies.”

“I have cousins…”

“They are not set for the throne! Let THEM go and break curses, then!” Her mother got up, extremely angry. “Guardians, handle this, and report to me if she dares try to leave before her recovery process is complete!” She stopped at the door, shook her head and said, “Grace… Just… If for nothing else, take care of yourself for me.”

“Yes, Mom.” She thought she saw the woman start to cry before she left her sight. 

Her father sighed and cupped her chin, “She was raised to be my wife, to bear an heir, and to be the next queen. We never found a worthy witch child to make your king, and we lost the one that the prophets believed to be him… She feels like she’s done something wrong, that you aren’t a son, that you aren’t betrothed, that you aren’t a proper princess… Just… don’t think that any of it is your fault. She ultimately blames herself.”

“I don’t think any of it is my fault. I don’t think that there’s anything wrong with me being who I am. I don’t think I’d be a better witch or a better ruler if I had some husband or some son, either! Dad, I’m a powerful witch! I’ve got everything needed to protect and fight and serve inside of me! Why do I have to preserve myself just to find the right boy to do those things for us?”

“It’s the way that we do things, Grace. It has kept us in harmony with the universe for many generations. The one time that there isn’t is the time that this wizard from the Conductor has been able to hit us several times over the past few years can’t be a coincidence.”

“Yes it can! Or, it can be a sign that I’m supposed to be out there fighting his ass instead of teaching little kids light show tricks!”

“Hey! Those tricks are exquisite magic!” He gave her a playful smile. “We don’t want you fighting because we never want to see you hurt. Nothing more, nothing less. Even if you had a husband and a son, I would never want you out there trying to fight this wizard. He slayed over a hundred denizens this week. You wouldn’t matter to him more than a mosquito that landed on his arm. But you, Grace. You have a gentle heart. This is most likely a kill or be killed type of fight. You are not a killer, so you do not belong in that fight.”

“I haven’t killed anyone, but to protect our people, our familiars, I would do anything, Dad.”

“I wouldn’t want you to.” He kissed her on the forehead and left her to her caretakers. “Now, I’ve gotta go stop your mother from killing someone in a rage.” 

She smiled a little, then climbed out of bed. They were going to put her through a big process to heal, but the proud smile returned to her face. They didn’t know it yet, but she could do what needed to be done, if she had to, and she was confident that she was stronger than her enemy.


	3. A Blood Oath

Grace was adorned in many plants and flowers. They were covering her body, covering her hair. Only her face was to be seen as she walked through the woods, grounding her energy with the earth beneath her toes. Lucy was there, armed and alert for any type of disturbance. This was the last day of Grace’s recovery process and this was her last ritual. She would bathe in the lagoon and let the flowers and herbs complete her healing. Lucy was to keep watch. Grace danced around in the water, practiced a little floral related magic and some water, twirling her fingers to make a water dome over her head, then collapse it onto herself with a huge splash. 

Lucy collected her, covering her in the flowing purple dress that she had brought along for after the bath. Grace swirled the winds around her to dry herself then reached for her bag from Lucy. Before she could reapply her mark, they heard something.

Grace collected Lucy in one arm and levitated them above the trees, until she saw the source of the noise. It was a man… She lowered them a little ways away, behind some bushes, and studied him. She didn’t recognize him, so he either was not from here, wandering through, or worse… He was from the Conductor. 

The blond had what appeared to be either red dirt or an inexplicable amount of blood in his long hair and when he reached the lagoon, he began to drink with both of his hands cupped. He splashed his face, sputtered and wiped off the flowers she left behind. He picked up one in the palm of his hand and suddenly looked around him, suspiciously. Lucy ducked, but Grace knew that she had them both cloaked, so she didn’t move. He sighed, and flung the flower into the dirt, where he then proceeded to toss his equipment and clothes. Grace gasped. Lucy covered her eye that wasn’t in an eye patch. “We should go,” she suggested. “This boy is just taking a bath, like you were.”

“That’s no boy, Lucy,” Grace said in a stern voice, but she practically whimpered, “It’s a man!” 

Lucy uncovered her eye just to look at Grace with disgust. “Careful Princess, you’ll rust your chastity belt.”

“Lucy!” Grace hissed. They both paused and looked back at the man, Lucy reflexively covered her face again and Grace softly said, “I don’t know him, so we’ll have to figure out who he is. If he’s a wanderer, he should have proof of safe passage from one of the Witches of the One. If he’s new, he should have a coven to account for him. If not… He might be…” He stepped beneath the waterfall and as the dirt began to clear from his pale skin, they saw the runes.

“A conductor,” they both said. Lucy readied her weapon. “He’s unsuspecting. Now is the time to attack.”

“If it isn’t a trap. We don’t know his level of magic, Lucy. I can’t get a reading of him with all of those runes. I need longer to assess him. Go back to the fortress and alert the coven.”

“I can’t leave you here with this heretic!”

“It’s an order, Lucy! I’m fully recovered. I’ll be fine. Don’t take too long.”

Lucy groaned, but made a few movements to help herself summon a flock of birds to fly her to the fortress. Grace watched the man, suspiciously now, but… she wasn’t blind. He was very well put together. He exercised or did some type of body maintaining fake magic. He had one of those interesting little “V”s that she had seen on the pelvis of some of the shirtless warriors as they practiced in the courtyard - not frequently, but at least a couple of them had one. He also had a patch of blond hair on his sleek abdomen. One of her witches had called that a “happy trail,” then they all laughed when Grace asked why it was called that. She guessed that was because of where it led to. She tried to make sure she DIDN’T look at that. She was here for surveillance, not… salaciousness! 

She shifted a little, then leaned down to grab her sneakers from her bag, since she probably had time, while he was showering. The pink and purple shoes were tied and she clicked on her bag to her body and stood, only to be face to face with a naked stranger. She ALMOST yelped, but fortunately, her reflexes were quick and she’d covered her mouth instead. He was peering and reached out a hand, almost about to touch her face, but she did a back bend to avoid his notice. He summoned underwear, thank goodness, but still looked very leery as he stared there, knowing someone or something was present, even though she couldn’t be seen at the moment. When he was dressed, he held his palms in front of himself and his runes and eyes began to glow green. Grace stepped back, ready to try to levitate, when he said, “There you are!” Reached out and grabbed what he could only see as a sparkling green woman with bouncy locs of hair.

She laughed, “You got me. Unhand, please.” She shook him off of her gloved arms and groaned, “How are you seeing me? My cloaking technique is the purest and most sophisticated in this realm. I should literally look like part of the ecosystem right now.”

“You hid in the least magic portion of this place. Nothing right here is magic, except for you.”

She tilted her head and looked around her, then back at him, “You… can see magic.”

He traced a rune on his neck and said, “A gift from the Conductor.” Now, she frowned and he smirked, “I know that you realized I am one of theirs, just like I realize the one you belong to.” His facial expression went cold and his glowing stopped. She made herself visible and she noticed that he blushed whenever he saw her face. “Oh!” He said, then frowned.

“What?”

“You were hiding yourself, so I just presumed that you’d be ugly. I guess you were hiding yourself because you’re too pretty?” 

She gushed, trying not to smile too big, but flattery was her love language and he was very attractive. VERY. ATTRACTIVE. So, she failed and her smile spread like butter. “You’re very pretty, too!”

He glared. “I’m not pretty! I’m a man. A rugged, handsome, male person. Not pretty. Powerful.”

Now, her smile faded into a smirk and her brown eyes were challenging. “Well, I’m pretty AND powerful.”

“There is only one witch in your entire camp that could potentially face off with my skill level, and that’s your little princess,” he said. “The Conductor has told me about your people.”

“My people rarely bother to talk about your kind, but I do hear mumbling whenever I’m among the commoners. They care.” she shrugged her shoulders and began to walk away. 

He narrowed his eyes and followed her, “You think it’s safe to turn your back to a proclaimed practitioner of the Conductor’s magic?”

“Yep!” She answered, making the P sound loud when she did. He was infuriated by the sheer audacity of this One witch! But the purple dress swished in the wind, almost like there were fairies dancing with her and holding on to it and she smelled like flowers and fruit and looked like a religious vision, so his words of protest caught in his throat. But, he had made contact with his target, so, he at least had that going for him. Amelia never mentioned that she might be in a gown with splits up to her thighs… powerful, graceful thighs that looked both incredibly strong and unbelievably soft. 

“You’ve got some kind of enchantment on me,” he said. She stopped and looked at him. “You’re making me attracted to you with magic to keep yourself safe!”

“I don’t know whether to be insulted that you think that I would NEED to do that, or honored that you think I’m so attractive it can’t be your real feelings. I’m right there in the middle at this moment, but leaning towards being insulted.” He grabbed her wrist and turned her around, but whenever she turned, a wave of power rang out and knocked him onto his back, several feet away. She gasped and covered her mouth, “Oh my One! Are you okay?” She asked. “That’s my mother’s magic. I’ve got a barrier that sends out a bit of a magic shock wave when someone intends to harm me.” She leaned over him and smiled, “So, don’t try me again, okay?” She held out her gloved hand to help him up and he begrudgingly allowed her to. 

“How did your mother make something so potent to guard you?”

“It’s natural magic, so it’s just potent on it's own. We don’t need to enhance with runes or talismans. We use the magic that’s already present and we attach it to what we have inside. My mother weaved this protective spell with her love for me and it takes the natural emotion of my aggressor and translates that to an attack, to bounce back on them.”

“What.”

“My mom didn’t make the attack potent. Your negativity did. You’re a very angry person, Fake Witch. Your aura feels disturbing.”

“Don’t call me that.”

“I was gonna call you Happy Trail, but that seemed inappropriate,” she giggled.

“Simon.”

“Simon What?”

“Simon... Says,” he said, rolling his eyes.

“Simon Sais,” she thought she repeated. “Never heard that name before. Are you one of the orphans the Conductor collects for her fake magic school?”

“She!” He fumed, then took a deep breath. “She saved my life and gave me a chance when the Witches of the One would have let me die an infant in my mother’s arms.”

“That doesn’t sound like us,” Grace said. “I’ll bet I’m the first Witch of the One that you’ve ever even met!” He was frustrated, but she was right. It didn’t matter. Amelia had _told_ him about how his mother’s only wish was that he never trust the witches that refused to help her baby boy grow into a man. She died shortly after he was given to Amelia to be rescued.

“I’ve studied them my entire life,” he said. That much was true. He learned about how they hide, who they ally with, their familiars and wanderers, and the spaces that were conduits for their magic - places where they became more powerful. He spent every waking moment of his life taking out as many of them as he could, and this one would be a challenge, but Amelia wouldn’t have sent him if she didn’t fully believe that he was ready.

.

_“So… someone broke MY spell? How is that possible? You’re the only person in the world with more runes than me!”_

_“I’ve told you before, the One witches don’t use runes, they use surroundings and internal magic. Did you leave anything behind that she could have used?”_

_“No! I know what I’m doing, Amelia! I’ve never made a mistake before!”_

_Samantha walked up, “I believe, that perhaps… it was my doing, Simon.” The cat lowered her face and admitted, “I left a small print, as a dedication in a moment of weakness and sentiment. I’m sorry..”_

_Amelia rushed towards her, ready to kill her, but Simon stepped in front of the woman. “What are you doing? She said that she was sorry.”_

_“She IS sorry. Worthless. A useless old remnant of a dead bloodline!”_

_“My loyalty is to Simon. My apology was for him,” Samantha said._

_Simon collected her and cradled her to his chest. “She made a simple mistake. The first one ever in years. You can’t be mad at her for that.”_

_“I can and I am. Thanks to her, our power has been challenged, Simon. That princess is going to think that she can counter every attack that we send her way and what if she’s right? What if your fondness for this trifle of a creature makes you weak?”_

_“Amelia, you’re upset. Samantha and I will give you some space.” Samantha smiled at Amelia as Simon walked away, holding her protectively. “You really put me in a bad place, Samantha.”_

_“In a way, I put you in a good place.”_

_“In what way?” he asked, extremely annoyed._

_“Amelia is livid. She won’t send for you for days. You can work on your little figures.” She padded her feet onto his chest and he sighed._

_“This isn’t funny, Samantha. My record is in jeopardy. Amelia is doubting me now!” He put the cat down and shook his head, “Retire to my chambers. I’m going to figure out what I can do to make this right.” Samantha sighed and reluctantly followed her master’s instructions._

_Amelia was looking into an orb, her eyes and runes glowing green and her hair blowing in the wind. He was going to step back out, but her demonic voice called, “Stay. You have work to do.”_

_Simon came to her and kneeled, “I am your soldier, Conductor. What work do you give me?”_

_“I entrust you to kill the one that they hail as the Heiress, the Princess who has been ordained to destroy you.” His head snapped upwards at the green smoke, forming a girl, with a mask on that was white, with a black line around it and two circular gems._

_“Destroy me?”_

_“Your destinies are intertwined. If you don’t kill her, she will be the cause of your downfall.”_

_He stood up and looked at the smoke image. “I will kill her, then!”_

_“She’s no typical witch. She’s one of their most powerful, and she has magic that is specific to you.”_

_“How is that possible?”_

_“You must get her to trust you, to weaken her, and kill her when she has let her guard down.”_

_“I have to… to get to know her? Conductor…”_

_“Or you will be destroyed.” He sighed and nodded. The smoke poofed away, the glowing stopped and Amelia leaned onto the basin the orb was in, catching her breath. Her voice was back to normal, as she was no longer channeling the Conductor’s magic. “Simon… She will use anything that she can to make YOU the weak one. You must get close to her, but don’t let her get close to you. Do you understand?”_

_“Yes.”_

_“Simon… if you’re found out, it could endanger this institute, and everything we’ve built. That girl is a poison, a rot. You can’t let her near us.”_

_“I won’t let her destroy what we’ve built.”_

_“I need you to take a blood oath.”_

_“You really think that she’s that powerful? That she’ll be able to woo me so deeply that you need to swear on my life that I’ll take hers?”_

_“I need you to know how important this mission is.”_

_He nodded and raised his fist into the air, “On the duty and honor of my own blood, I will spill the blood of my enemy and take her life.” Amelia reached for her wand and drew a rune beneath his armpit to signify the oath that he was making._

_“Bathe yourself in the blood of our enemies, and cleanse it off in their own waters.” He nodded._

_._

Presently, next to the untrustworthy princess with her mother’s love repellent and her… hips swaying like a dancer as she walked, he wouldn’t forget what Amelia told him, and he couldn’t fail. Not only did the future of all of the Conductor’s followers depend on it, but he had sworn on his life to kill her. Maybe that spell was why he needed to get her to trust him? Sometimes, Amelia didn’t seem to get the full grasp of her visions… He froze. 

There was a creature here. He could sense it. The witch had continued marching straight ahead, cheerfully and carefree, but he knew they weren’t alone. Simon moved to activate his sight, but before he could something large and black slapped him to the ground and hovered over him. A. GOHM. 

The story was that if you met one, you would know it, even though nobody seemed to be able to tell you what they looked like. His? It looked like a hideous roach with tentacles in it’s mouth on a dog’s body and it was doing what they were known to do, draining the magic right out of wizards… He heard something that sounded like a loud screeching noise before a blinding light shined and the gohm cowered and rushed away. 

Simon could hardly breath and checked his runes and his body. He was alive. He was safe. He saw the princess, reaching out to help him up again. “Wow! Cannot leave you by yourself for two seconds!” 

He stared at her hand, confused. “You… you saved me.”

She placed her hands on her hips and laughed, “What? Do you fake magic folk let visitors die on your soil when your most dangerous beasts come to attack?” 

He pulled himself up from the ground and said, “If our most dangerous beasts attack, there’s nothing that we could do to help.”

She shook her head, “that’s why i don’t trust fake magic. That little guy was about to drain you dry and turn you to dust. You’re so rich with magic, he’d probably explode from gorging himself. With natural magic, all you gotta do is show him that you’ve got too much to handle and they run… Now… if you didn’t have enough, that’d be a different story.”

“How did you show him your magic? How can anybody tell your levels without seeing your runes?”

“You know how you can see magic with your little fake trick or whatever?”

“It’s real. I can actually USE the magic!”

“Okay. That was an opinion. The point is that I can move it. And I don’t have to see it. I just gather everything around me to myself and HE can sense it. 

“How did you glow all white?”

She laughed and asked, “What?”

“You were glowing white…”

“Maybe you were seeing things because you were getting ghom sucked. Come on… We’ll get you taken care of at my place. Lucy’s got the coven on standby already.”


	4. Ability and Accountability

By the time they made it back to the fortress, Simon was so weak that he was crawling. Grace walked unto the property while Lucy directed some of the other witches to carry him away. He couldn’t pass the fortress’ barrier without the proper passage, and Simon had none. “What do I do with your new pet rat?” Lucy wondered.

Grace sputtered some air through her lips and thought about where there might be space. “Well, we’ve occupied most of the backup places because of the Conductor’s attacks on the outer realms. I think that the best place for him is my solitude cottage.”

“Are… you going to be in there while he’s in there?”

“I’ll check up on him, make sure the healing process flows.”

Lucy reached for her dress to pull her attention lower. Grace kneeled to Lucy’s level to hear what she had to say. “If you give the Queen a conductor’s baby, she WILL implement a sterilization curse on all of us.”

“Lucy!” 

“Don’t think about your loins. Think about the future.”

Lucy didn’t have anything else to say. She was a junior master of animal related magic. She knew how pheromones worked and with those two, there was almost an instant trigger of Grace’s body… responding to that blond heretic. Lucy had not yet gotten the chance to assess him around the princess, but she certainly would. There was no way that she was leaving her to her own devices with him, or worst - to his devices. “Take the heretic to the princess’ cottage. Instill the highest degree of security and put him in stasis. Have two guards stationed at all times. Armed ones. He’s dangerous. I can smell it on him.” 

Lucy smelled nothing but blood whenever Simon was near. She didn’t know if that was because he had been covered in it when they first saw him or because he regularly had it on him and it had become part of his natural scent - but she knew the smell of blood very well. The smell of a massacre. Of the hunt. Had she not been as good as magic as she was, it would have been the smell of her fate. When she was 4, she flew on her first bird to escape the Conductor’s raid of her village and lost her eye in the process of trying to tame the thing long enough to convince it that she was a friend who needed help. The princess had saved her and taken her in. The princess had been moved by her bravery and her strength. When so many other raid refugees were sent to recovery camps, awaiting safe spaces to become denizens, now that their homes had been ravaged, Grace had said, “Let me keep this one.”

The Queen looked at her and figured that Grace just wanted a pet. A little orphan girl that was good enough with magic to communicate with animals, despite never having had a lesson a day in her life. “If you can give back a working eye, you can keep her as your pet.”

“Mom, she’s a witch and a survivor. Have some respect.” Grace had brought herself to Lucy’s level for the first time that day. She pulled off her glove and said, “I’m sorry for what they’ve taken from you, but I’m glad that you’re still here.” She reached out, touched Lucy’s damaged eye… and Lucy felt like her brain was on fire. She screamed an agonizing scream and Grace quickly tried to comfort her and regretted ever attempting the fix. She pulled her glove back on and collected the girl, cradled her and carried her into her room.

“You didn’t fix it, Grace!” Her mother called out, but never bothered her about Lucy again. Lucy just belonged to Grace, now. Grace had bandaged the girl up and nursed her, herself. It was the first person that she had actually physically taken care of herself, and Lucy was confident that she just always would, so she made it up in her mind that she was going to take care of her too.

.

Simon was down for three days. He tried to get up several times, but wound up feeling drained and had to sit right back down. Whenever he was resting someone would come in and do things around the room. He was awake one time, and saw Grace, blooming flowers and he could literally see the healing properties flow from their blooms in pink and purple mist form. She danced around, moving the energy of the room, inviting in the good and ushering out the bad. He clutched the fluffy, heated, weighted covers to himself and watched her eagerly, but weakly. She made a pink and purplish cloud in the room and Simon inhaled it and felt his pain subside and his body going to sleep…

By the time he was able to get up and get out, he wandered out into what appeared to be training grounds. He stumbled out, and sat on a rock, tired. "Okay, so what Lucy's going to do is summon the owls, swirl them for a windstorm and use the windstorm to collapse this wall. Ready, Lucy?"

"Yes, Grace."

"Okay. Because if you fail, you know we'll have to kill you."

"Understood, Grace!" The girl said with a smile. 

Simon was intrigued. 

That seemed a faulty way to conduct lessons, but at the same time, there were plenty of students that had he killed them during lessons, they might not have had costly failures in the field. But, if someone messed up in the field and it cost you, they died right there. That was Simon's method. The Conductor couldn't suffer mistakes. Now Grace? She put on that sweet act, but this might show him the ruthless side of Grace that he knew she had, from the stories. This might show him the beast that he believed was beneath the beauty… the indescribable beauty...

Lucy waved her arms and made a sound that sounded like an owl. Her eye began to glow and her hair blew in the wind. Grace and several witches watched as owls flew to Lucy, flying in circles around her to match her hand movements. The winds were very severe. Simon had to get his footing and hold on to the rock. But, the wall only slightly shifted and the owls flew away without it having been knocked down. Lucy frowned and folded her arms. 

Grace gave her a sympathetic smile and said, "Next time, I'm sure. Everyone take a break." The other witches rushed away, while Lucy stayed to practice. 

"When do you kill her?" Simon asked from the rock. Grace and Lucy both looked at him, then each other. He walked over and explained himself. "You said that if she failed, you'd kill her and she failed miserably."

"It was a joke," Grace said. "Do they not have those in Conductor Territories?"

"Yes, but why joke about something so crucial? The difference between getting that spell right and whatever it is she just did are life and death. It makes sense to take away life for such failures. If she isn’t powerful enough to do simply training tasks, how can you even trust her beside you when it really counts?"

"Lucy, please excuse us." Lucy walked away slowly, adjusting the hair in the back of her head as she did. Grace blinked her eyes at Simon… 

"I'm not sure exactly what made you think that I wanted or needed your input, but Lucy is a child! You don't get to talk about how miserably you think that she did and you don't get to speak about her like she's nothing just because she didn't do so well, in your eyes."

"I just think that you should be honest about your expectations and serious about your penalties."

“Well, I think you should be honest about minding your business whenever it comes to my magic. You’re alive because of it. Furthermore… You kill children? Over mistakes?”

“What? No. But… is Lucy a real child? Like… You have a real child as your bodyguard?”

“As my…” Grace laughed and held her belly as she did. “My bodyguard? Dude… Lucy isn’t my bodyguard. She’s just very cautious and trying to do her best.” She didn’t want to say more to him about who Lucy was, because that could put the girl in danger, but definitely had to clear the air about having a 7 year old bodyguard, despite the fact that Lucy was extremely advanced in magic for her age and that was one of the main reasons that she was chosen. 

“I thought it was a familiar that took on the most bizarre alternative form…”

“Familiar? You have familiars in the Conductor’s practice?” Grace asked, horrified. Simon didn’t know why her tone was so alarmed, but he laughed and shrugged his shoulders. The truth was that he was the only person that he knew of to have one, but he didn’t want to say that, considering Grace’s reaction. He wanted to see her have a genuine reaction to SOMETHING. “Familiars are explicitly bonded to natural magic. They would DIE before committing to a fake witch, so all of your familiars are either some type of horrid abomination, or enslaved souls being forced to serve at the behest of the unclean by some new unspeakable horror that the fake witches call magic.”

He glared at her. “I’ll have you know that The Cat is VERY committed to me and I haven’t ever known of her to have any complaint whatsoever, and if you’re suggesting that she’s any less of a companion than your weird little cyclops failure witch, we can fight about it right now.”

“The Cat,” Grace said, suspiciously. She remembered the paw print of a cat whenever she crumbled the curse a week ago. Surely… the same person who did that wasn’t bold or stupid enough to just come back into their territory, flashing skin and green eyes, thinking that he could… whatever he was here for. Surely… This was not the person who was attacking her people. This was a student of the Conductor, yes. But, he was just a simple student who had gotten lost and attacked, and they were mending him and sending him back, because they had no proof that he had committed anything beyond heresy, and due to the fact that there was a school that preyed upon orphans and poor children, The One had become lenient to young Conductor practitioners in Grace’s lifetime. They were allowed to experience the realms of the One and to be assimilated, to be salvaged from the Conductor’s grasp. But, if Simon was the wizard slaying her denizens, citizens, and allies…

“Yeah. The Cat,” he said. You couldn’t give a natural witch the name of a familiar, because they could call upon them and possibly utilize them for their bidding. To protect Samantha, Simon had taken to calling her “The Cat,” no matter who he was speaking to about her. The only person that he knew for sure even knew her name was Amelia.

“I’d like to meet her,” Grace told him. 

“That’s an important sign to me to keep her away from you.” 

Grace bit her lip, in thought and walked away. She might have to try to bring a witch with her that was good at assessing the story of scenes through touching the things left there. But… until then, maybe Lucy was right and this was a dangerous conductor. He certainly had a lot of runes for a lot of magic. She supposed that his age and his looks got the best of her. Because, even with wondering if he might be a horrible wizard… she still took note of the fact that he had on a crop top long sleeved hooded shirt that covered his arms but left his V and his happy trail exposed. His pants hung low on his waist, bogged down a little bit by the things on his belt, the weapons and other things he must’ve felt it necessary to carry around. And… his eyes. She stared at him, looking into them was like being washed away in deep seas of green waters, sparkling in the sun’s majesty… “When can I leave?” he asked, and it was like the waves crashed into her and splashed her out of a stupor.

“Whenever you want. But, if you need a guide, you’ll have to wait for an available escort. Otherwise, we’ve gotta activate the labyrinth. You feel ready to defend yourself against another ghom?”

He considered his options. He didn’t know if he would ever feel ready to defend himself against another ghom, and he had yet to get enough intel to bring in a raid party. Plus, he hadn’t gotten closer to her trusting him and being able to get close enough to slay her. He gave her a small, almost bashful smile and shrugged, “No… I guess not. Well, Princess. I guess for the time being, I’m all yours.” She heard a muffled whimper that she knew came from her, even though she couldn’t feel herself make that sound. His eyebrow raised. “I can help you teach your students better magic. That wall should’ve come down no problem.”

She smiled and folded her arms, “You knock it down. Using only wind.” 

He nodded his head, shoved his hands out in front of him and began to rotate his wrists. She could see the green glowing shining through is hooded shirt, and of course, the light of his green eyes. She felt the winds power up and noticed the students all watching, with only Lucy’s back being pointed towards him. Simon knocked down half of the rocks that were there making up the wall. The students clapped. Lucy stayed still. Simon looked at his hands and at the only half damaged wall. “I’m not at 100%,” he said. 

Grace gave him a sympathetic smile and said, "Next time, I'm sure.” She patted him on the back and slapped playfully at his hair, causing him to blush, then she gathered up her own winds to set the boulders back up for the next round of practice. But first, she had a lesson to teach them all about ability and accountability. Simon saw the students sitting down in front of her, in the dirt as she lectured, barefoot, in front of them and he sat down too, next to Lucy, who just gave him a look, which he returned. They did not care for each other, but they turned away at the same time to give their attention back to Grace. 


	5. The Venom

“I can’t see through his eyes again!” Amelia complained. “You must’ve known that we would have this issue when I sent him on this quest,” she fussed at The Cat.

“Perhaps, if I knew what your intentions were, I might have known what information you needed,” Samantha said, smoothly.

“Withholding information could result in Simon’s death. Do you WANT that on your head?”

“Simon isn’t going to die,” Samantha said, but she did worry. A blood oath… That was a risk that Simon never should have taken and had he consulted with her, she would have been vehemently against it. She had confidence, though… Simon would either do what needed to be done to survive, or he would at the very least die for something he believed in. She didn’t like that option nearly as much. “What is it that you think we could do to help him?”

Amelia pulled a necklace from the liquid in her basin. “Find him and deliver this to him. Tell him never to take it off.”

“What does it do?” Samantha wondered.

“Do you want him to live, or not?” Amelia asked, shaking the necklace angrily in The Cat’s face. Samantha took it and slid it onto her own neck, then hopped onto the ledge and out of the window.

It would take her no time to find Simon. A familiar always knew where their spirit human was, but on those little cat feet, it would take her far too long to run. She twinkled a moment, with green smoke coming up around her, and was carried away by it, and replaced outside of a cottage. She approached and bumped into a barrier. “Hmmm…” She pulled the necklace off, buried it in the dirt and attempted again. This time, she walked straight through.

Samantha was not expecting to hear what she heard whenever she entered the cottage, undetected, but it was a welcome sound - Simon laughing. It wasn’t hard, but it was real. She could tell. She looked to see what he was laughing at… who was more like it. It was her. The Princess.

“Shut up!” She squealed. Samantha hid to take a look. The Princess had her feet in a soaking bowl, while Simon rested on a nearby cushioned seat with the widest smile on his face that Samantha could ever remember seeing.

“Your feet look like the consequences and repercussions,” Simon said.

“Of what?”

“NAME SOMETHING!” He said and laughed again.

“You know what… I am a dancer and I’m a free spirit. My feet look like this because they’ve worked hard my entire life!”

“You have MAGIC! There's no acceptable reason that your feet should be like that!” He was laughing harder now, until he noticed Samantha and he stopped.

She approached and sat on his lap. The Princess stared at her, she looked back at the woman. Simon collected Samantha and said, “I’m going to put her outside…” Grace nodded. She heard him outside ask, in his lowest whisper, “What are you doing here?”

“You left something important behind,” Samantha said and uncovered the necklace. Simon picked it up. He had never seen the thing before in his life. It must have been from Amelia. “Now, put it on and don’t take it off…” She wondered if he would be forbidden, when he tried to cross the threshold again. Soon enough, that was answered. Simon groaned in pain, with his skin burning and he took the necklace off. “Well… wear it whenever you’re outside of that barrier.”

“What is it?”

“I don’t know, but I’ve been told that it is urgent.”

Grace stepped outside and asked, “What’s the problem, Simon and The Cat?” Samantha poofed away into a cloud of green smoke. Simon was surprised. She just left him? Just like that? Grace was waiting on an answer.

“She gave me a necklace, but I can’t bring it through. I don’t think it’s dangerous. Just… I guess it has too much conductor’s magic,” he answered honestly. Getting her to trust him was going to take telling the truth here and there.

“Lemme see it.” He held it up in the moonlight. She looked into it and saw herself. She began to pose into it and kiss at her reflection. Simon was annoyed. He snatched it back and put it in his pocket. “It’s for spying. It can’t pass the barrier, because that would violate my solitude spell. I was very shocked that your cat was able to come in, but then again, she IS made of natural magic. She left before I could pin down a strand, though.”

“What does that mean?” He asked, defensively.

“It’s like tracing her back to where her magic originated… like to find out who you stole her from.”

He was angry now, “She’s been with me my entire life!”

“Okay, so who your parents stole her from…”

Simon reached out and was knocked across the grounds. Grace sighed. At this point, there was no need to go help him up. He knew not to try to attack her. She went back into her cottage and waited for him to come back.

He hit the barrier and grunted, “Dammit!” Then tossed the necklace to the ground and stormed inside. "Don't talk about my parents!"

"You don't even know them, Simon. They could have been scandalous rascals!"

He was furious, but he’d already hurt himself reaching out for her too angrily, so he simply smirked and said, “Your feet are scandalous rascals.”

“STOP TALKING ABOUT MY FEET! They’ve got character!” She whined, folding her arms. Simon kneeled in front of her and held his hands out in front of him. Runes on his wrist glowed and he stuck his hands into the water. “Simon!” the water bubbled, but didn’t heat up and Grace removed her feet, reflexively and saw that they looked sloughed and smoothed. She hadn’t seen her feet be this soft and flawless since she was a girl. “What did you do?”

“I healed them,” he said.

“Where did you steal the magic to do that?” She asked.

“Just… say thanks. Your feet are now as beautiful as the rest of you.”

She blushed, but she was frustrated. “Please, don’t ever use that kind of magic on me without my consent again. I’m disappointing enough to my mother without adding magical tainting."

"What's disappointing about you? Aside from those gargoyles you called feet?" She kicked him and he caught her foot and cradled it. "Really. What's your mom's problem. I watched everybody fawn over you all day."

"I'm supposed to be a queen of the One someday. By now, I should have been married, made whole by my soul mate, with child, and ready to ascend to the throne someday, raising my child to do the same."

"You're too young to be married! You've barely lived yet."

"A princess's life is doing what her kingdom needs. But, my soul mate died, and the One never revealed another… and all of the suitors are not powerful enough to make into a king… but… I may have to settle. I only have a few more years. If I turn 21 and have no heir, my parents will have to look outside of our house for my successor. I'll be the first queen who didn't put a Monroe born on the throne."

"What's so special about the Monroes?"

"We're descended from the original witches. There were certain families, descended from them, with natural Magic. Many have faded away. Some have married non-magical and evolved into blended families. The Monroes have never yet done this. We're the oldest of the natural magic families and the… purest…"

"That only comes with high concentration of inbreeding."

" No. That's not true. We've had seers to help guide us in order to avoid that. They get someone with natural magic for us to breed with. Then, a priestess intertwines our destinies. We're raised to be the person who completes the other. Our marriage is preordained by magic and our consummation is the fulfilment… but, my soul mate got sick when I was young and we lost him." She pulled her foot back. "And, now you know most of my flaws."

"Those aren't flaws. We're magic, Grace. We should be able to write our own destinies! Your mother is disappointed because she's weak."

"You've felt her magic. You know that isn't true."

"Her magic is wasted on someone so easily controlled. You're an amazing witch. This place doesn't deserve your power."

She smiled and flicked his ponytail with her fingertips. "Thanks for trying to cheer me up. You're not so bad, for one of them. Tomorrow… would you like to come to the fair with me?"

"Fair?"

"Yes. It's a gathering that the natural witches have to share our gifts with each other. You seem recovered, and you haven't left, so… one day of fun should be… nice."

"Go to the fair with you, as your guest?"

"Yes."

"Okay…"

"Thank you for my pretty new feet." She left through the curtain and he saw the glimmer of her vanishing. He couldn't help but to smile… until he felt a sharp pain in his armpit. He held himself and looked in the mirror.

The veins looked like vines pulsating with the venom of the blood oath. Holding himself, he went outside and picked up the necklace. Maybe this was helpful? He put it on his neck. Nothing seemed different.

But, on Amelia's end, she could see everything that the pendant pointed at, and she could sense through Simon's contact with it that he was in pain. He formed his fingers to try to conjure up something to allow the pendant into Grace's cottage. Amelia noted and assisted him from where she was. He got passed the barrier and looked at his infected wound in the mirror again. Amelia was standing behind him and startled him. "Amelia!"

"You're supposed to get close to her without letting her into your head. You're making yourself ill by not doing that. You'll die before you even have a chance to strike."

"She's trusting me. She asked me out on a date tomorrow. Is there a way to slow down this venom?"

"Yes. Succeed. Gain her trust, get close, kill her. Don't let her destroy what we've built."

"What if… I mean… she doesn't seem to be a threat. She's a powerful witch, but she doesn't even understand her own power. They've raised her to be a babymaker…"

"One way or another, Simon, if you don't destroy her, she will destroy you."

"I'll take her out as soon as I can. She has a very strong protective spell by her mother…"

"Kill the mother, end the protection."

"Acknowledged." Amelia faded from behind him in the mirror. He tried to address his throbbing armpit, but it was no use. The magic of the blood oath probably set out against him for helping Grace earlier. All he did was make her feet nice! He took a potion for the pain and got some rest. He had a date with a princess tomorrow and she'd have a date with death...


	6. A Fair Assessment

_Guess What Loves??? I got a soundtrack for this story:[Here on Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/73BLZJ11zLxSql5zRmK9Pr)_

Simon was awakened by the sounds of trumpets, tubas, and… other instruments and he jumped out of his sleep, ready to fight. Was there a war starting? Was that a battle song? He reached for his personals and rushed through the curtains to see… what appeared to be… a parade? There were four massive, purple gorillas with instruments on the shoulders… or coming out of their backs. He couldn’t tell… and on a litter, being carried by them was a little girl. She was brown and had long wild blond hair, but there was a mask shielding the bottom of her face and leaves in her hair. She turned suddenly as the townspeople celebrated her arrival, and she looked right. At. Simon. He glared at her, feeling uncomfortably scrutinized. He couldn’t read the face that she was making at him, but her head turned and they held the stare down until the moment that her litter was out of sight. Following it was the biggest of the large purple gorillas, who glanced at Simon, but didn’t linger. 

Simon exhaled when they were out of eyesight, then glanced around at all the creatures and witches who had come out of hiding to follow the parade and head to the fair. He pulled his hood over his head and secured his bag around himself. The pendant was out for Amelia’s viewing pleasure and he began to walk in the direction that everyone else was going. He and Grace hadn’t been clear on what they would do today, so he presumed that she could find him whenever she wanted to. When a bird landed in front of him, he paused and stared. The bird took flight, and he followed. There was something about Grace and birds, so he just figured this was someone sent by her. The bird led him to Lucy. He groaned.

“I feel the same way,” she said. “Do you transmit?”

“I don’t know what that means.”

“Do you travel elsewhere really fast or instantly?” she asked, annoyed.

“Like… teleport?”

She glared. “Yeah. Like teleport.”

“Yes,” he said. “We call it vaporing or vanishing…”

“Don’t. Care.” She handed him a black stone, carved into the shape of a bird. “Blackbirds represent beauty, intelligence, and wisdom. A good omen, representing protection and safe passage. This will lead you directly to the princess.” She turned around and was taken up immediately by a flock of birds. 

“Always trying to make me learn natural magic mythology,” he grumbled, moving his hands to cast the spell to make him vapor to the princess. Whenever he reached her, she was once again surrounded by children… and barefoot. She was going to ruin those sweet new feet! Wait… she had on sandals of some sort? No… They were footless sandals… basically just anklets that decorated the foot and latched onto the toe… They were pretty… She… was pretty. She was wearing pearls and crystals - the all white a bit abnormal for her, as he had gotten used to purples and pinks. But, she had bird accents in her hair, makeup and jewels on her face, and was adorned in jewelry and drawings that looked… sort of like runes, but were definitely some type of other design that he didn’t know and it appeared to be body paint, not tattooed. The children cleared away and she smiled at him, “You made it!”

“Yeah… I had a little birdy help me out.” He extended his hand to give her the blackbird, but she closed it in his palm and smiled.

“Consider it your first gift of the day.”

“First gift?”

“I told you… The fair is for us to come together and share our gifts. That’s part of my earth magic, bonded with my animal magic!” Grace got onto her knees. She grabbed his hand and pulled him down with her. He put her little blackbird away and watched her. She dug her gloved hands into the ground. He had just noticed that she still had on gloves, though they weren’t as long as her usual ones, and she shut her eyes and the dirt seemed to shift for her, digging and pulling something out of it. There was a crystal in her hands after the soil sifted through her fingers. She clasped it in her hand and light glowed from inside of there. When she opened it, there was another bird, this time made of the crystal that she had just called forth from the earth. “Blue Quartz. Amplifies healing, intuition, empathy and clarity, and it enhances clear and open communication. The bluebird is the harbinger of happiness. The earth told me that these were the gifts that you could use.” 

He was reluctant to accept it. “You just gave me that blackbird…”

“That one was in case you ever need to find your way back to me. This one is simply to help you find your way. You’re… very unhappy, Simon. Your aura is filled with tense energy, anger, sorrow, spite…” she slipped the bluebird into his left pocket, “I’m at least going to make your aura a little less messy for me to be around.” She was so close to his face that she could kiss him if she wanted to… and he sort of wanted her to. They stared at each other a moment, a longer moment than was comfortable. He broke the stare and got up. She sighed and followed, then grabbed his wrist and led him around.

There were witches and creatures exchanging things and showing off skills all over the place. Simon even spotted Lucy, laughing with a bunch of children as her swans put on a dance performance. He hated to admit it, but either the bluebird, or this place was making him relax and he didn’t like to relax, because that could leave you with weak spots… then again, the place felt so comfortable, he felt like for the first time ever, he was some place where there was nobody who might try to harm him. It made no sense. Because he was surrounded by the enemy. His nemesis had her hand wrapped around his fingers, and yet… complete calm in her care, in her presence. She felt like… home. 

_What a stupid thought! She’s death. She is leading you through lies and would send you to your destruction. Never forget that!_ She hissed and pulled her hand away from him. She threw him a look and he was startled. “What is wrong with you?” She asked, irritated, shaking her fingers, as though he had somehow hurt her… _could it be?_ That whenever he went into that calm state, touching her, she was susceptible to his harm, without her spell repelling him away from her? 

He smiled and grabbed her hand, about to try to check to see if she was hurt, but she snatched it back whenever he reached for her glove. “No. I’m good.” She held her own hand and he raised an eyebrow suspiciously. She was lying. He didn’t know about what, but continued, like nothing was wrong.

“Hang on, gotta stop to see Hazel, my oracle!” She cheered, with excitement. “You wait here, or like… mingle, if you want? The worship of the nymphs might be up to your speed.” She rushed towards a tent and he tried to follow, but was cut off by that huge monster of a gorilla he’d seen earlier. It roared at him and pounced and was about to murder him with the nearest boulder it could grab. 

“Tuba!” They heard a little girl’s voice say. The gorilla paused and set the rock down. 

Grace helped Simon up and glared at Tuba. “He’s a guest, Tuba.”

“He’s a conductor,” she corrected. “And one stained with the blood of my brethren.”

Grace nodded, “I’m pretty sure that they just have it everywhere around there. I don’t think he’s actually a murderer, Tuba. This is the Fair. We don’t attack unless we are attacked.” She turned to Simon and said, “And I told you to stay over there. You got into Hazel’s bubble. Tuba is sworn to protect her.”

“I don’t know any of that shit!” he complained. 

“That’s why I need you to trust me whenever I tell you something.” He glared up at Tuba who Grace bowed her head to and gave a pineapple. Tuba settled in front of the tent and ate the pineapple, staring at Simon as he waited outside of Hazel’s bubble, with his arms folded, wishing that Grace was back next to him, because without her, he suddenly felt extremely unsafe. He had a pain beneath his arm and he tried not to look too comfortable.

.

Hazel gave Grace a smile and held her hand out to an empty space on the floor in front of her sitting table. “He seems nice,” she teased.

“I can’t figure him out. He says things that trouble me to my core. His aura…”

“A disaster!” Hazel said, nodding her head as she sat on the floor in front of Grace. “And yet, you can’t pull yourself away from him.”

“Is it THAT obvious?” Grace asked, blushing and trying to cover her face, like that would matter to Hazel, anyway. “He just.. From the moment I saw him, I was drawn to him and even though I should have already sent him packing, I haven’t. I can just feel that there’s something special about him… but I can’t be sure that isn’t my lady parts doing the feeling for me.” 

Hazel removed tea leaves from her hair and put them in a cup. “You want me to tell you about him.” She grabbed a kettle of hot water that was on the table and poured it into the cup. After tea, she looked into the cup and gave Grace a smile, “Your lady parts might be feeling, but you’re absolutely right about him. He’s your soulmate.”

Grace gasped and covered her mouth with one hand. “The One selected me another soul mate? Finally? But… why this one? Why would he send me a conductor to be my king?”

“Hazel shook her head, looking into the cup, “You’ve got it backwards. The One didn’t send you a conductor. The Conductor stole your soul mate.”

“Wait… So… He’s the last of the Laurents?” Grace asked, and nearly fell over, even though they were sitting. 

Hazel removed more leaves from her hair. They just manifested as she needed them, and she ground them and crushed them into a pipe. She handed it to Grace and Grace took a particle of wood, placed it to the small fire that heated the kettle and smoked the leaves in the pipe. She was transported into a smoke hazed vision. A boy crying in a crib. Amelia, hooded and deceptive. Her keepers coming too late to rescue him from her clutches. One of the witches transformed into a white cat and rushed off to find him. The smoke clouds became too dark for her to see anymore and she blinked and was back in the room with Hazel. “The Cat!” She said.

“You’re gonna be a little disoriented. That journey went back 16 years.”

“The Cat!” Grace said… “She was one of us. She knew me… She was with us…”

“All familiars come from natural magic, you know that, Grace. The Cat is bonded to the Laurents. Of course she would go with him.”

“But… why wouldn’t she guide him back to us? Why would she let the Conductor KEEP him?” She asked, frustrated to the point of tears. Plus, she was certain that she was extremely high. “Pbbbbrrrrrrr… We need to find her and bring her to justice for treason and treachery and kidnapping and almost crumbling the system of power as we know it!”

“Here,” Hazel said and gave Grace a loaf of lavender and chamomile bread, and the princess tore off chunks and stuffed them into her mouth. Hazel calmly explained, “There is something inside of him now, Grace. He belongs to the Conductor. She saved his life and she raised him. There was nothing that The Cat could have done to turn him from her, but she’s kept her loyalty and remained his familiar, and he is very attached to her. She’s probably the only person that he cares about.” She poured more water, to make them more tea. “But, he’s suffering. He needs his soul mate just as much as you do. You two were meant to complete each other. Your destinies are intertwined.”

“Well, I can’t not fuck him, then,” Grace said, a mouth full of bread. “Oof. I’m still under the influence. I meant to say…”

“You’re going to be drawn to him in that way, because you were destined to mate with him. He’s going to have the same proclivity towards you. But, there’s a blockage. Something is keeping him from you. Probably whatever magic was used to save him from his illness.”

Grace looked at her hands and wondered, “Could I remove that?”

“Maybe. She severed your spiritual connection. But, the magic inside of him - the magic that he was born with, his Laurent bloodline… it is trying to reach you. The magic is trying to do what natural magic does, connect the lifeform to what it needs to grow.”

“She put fake magic into his system whenever she stopped his illness.”

“Don’t call it _fake_ magic. It isn’t fake. It works, and isn’t inherently bad. Alric didn’t abuse the forms of magic that he created. He simply found a way for those who weren’t born with natural magic to be able to utilize it. If one is willing to give and take, it works in a balanced manner. It isn’t as strong as natural magic, but that’s simply because it is younger and not yet fully incorporated into the universe’s magical ecosystem. In other words, it hasn’t had the chance to evolve yet.”

“Wait… So… that magic that the conductor uses is… valid?”

“No. The magic that the conductor _learned_ is valid. But, she’s used it in such a way, taking so much and giving nothing in return, building a small empire that does the same… the ecosystem hasn’t been able to adjust. It needs a very powerful conductor to help begin to restore balance.”

“Is… that Simon?”

“I don’t think any other is more powerful than him except for Amelia.”

Grace drank some tea. “I don’t know what to do. Can you tell me what to do?”

“You’ll have to try to connect with him. Get his guard down and he’ll let that wall down. If he can turn away from Amelia and reject her ways, your touch may be able to both remove whatever magic is keeping him alive, and heal him, the way that you would have been able to all of those years ago if she hadn’t taken him.”

“If not?”

Hazel shook her head, and pointed at her divination table, “All that I can assure you of is bloodshed.”

.

It was a long time whenever Grace came out of the tent, but she could sense that Simon would be waiting on her. She found him sitting on a large rock, carving something out of redwood. She approached him, looking at him with brand new eyes and her heart beating furiously in her chest. This man… she was meant to… be with, for the rest of her life. He was concentrating hard as he carved the wood with his conductor’s dagger and she didn’t want to disturb him, but he must’ve felt her approaching, because he looked up and his tenseness smoothed away. His shoulders dropped and his eyes softened. “Took you long enough,” he complained, but she could tell that he was relieved that she was back. He stood up, blushing and sighed. “I made you this,” he pushed the gift towards her, offering her no explanation whatsoever. She wasn’t sure if he even knew himself why he made her that. 

But, it was made from redwood, a tree that symbolizes “forever” and he carved it into the shape of a dove… a bird associated with love. Grace cupped it in her hands, certain that no matter what happened between them, she would never get rid of this. She placed it into her sack, threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. She could hear several gasps all around her, as the princess was NOT supposed to do such things! But, she didn’t care at the moment. This was actually her rightful property and she could do whatever she wanted. Plus, his hands had moved to her waist and pulled her closer, deepening the kiss. He had to have felt it too… She paused to look at him and he looked like he was in a lot of pain, probably fighting it, like Hazel warned her about. But, he was at least content to be resigned for now. He rested his forehead against hers and they took a moment to gather their wits. 

Amelia ran her hand through her hair, glaring at the princess through the pendant. “She’s seen an oracle… Does she KNOW?” She wondered. 

“If she does, you’re in trouble,” Samantha said, hopping onto the table and looking into the basin. You know that if Simon falls in love with her, she’s going to be powerful enough to defeat you.” 

“YOU know that Simon took a blood oath. Whether he falls in love with her or not, if he doesn’t kill her; he will die.” 

“I know.”

“So, where do your loyalties lie, Samantha? With Simon, a boy you’ve raised for a family you served for generations? Or with the witches that have let you wander through enemy territory for nearly 20 years, alone, cut off, watching your own kind killed at the hands of the one who you love more than anything… I need a warrior witch, now. Simon needs her.” 

Samantha stepped off of the table and transformed into an elderly, but obviously strong and powerful woman with white hair and yellow eyes. “In Simon’s name, I need you to return home. He’s in danger there.” Amelia pulled out a conductor’s dagger and Samantha opened her hand to receive it, “In Simon’s name, I will do what I must to keep him safe.”


	7. The Winged Woman

_Simon was in the waterfall of the lagoon, a golden god standing before her, glistening in the sun. Where… where were his runes? His body was flawless. There were no off-putting marks of distorted magic. She moved closer, and he turned around. There was that smile that took her five days to win from him. The moody scowl was no more, just like those horrid marks and he was reaching for her. She felt herself lured into his arms, like she was floating. She had no control over herself. She was his. Powerless..._

Grace awoke with a start. She glanced over at Lucy, still asleep on the small round bed that Grace refused to call a “pet bed” even though that was what her mother had it commissioned as. She climbed out of bed, her nightgown sticking to her body, via sweat. But… It was chilly in there. She covered Lucy with her fuzzy blanket and gave her the little ragdoll with one button eye that she had carried to safety with her, and maimed out of frustration, kissed her on the forehead and went to change her clothes. 

Grace put on a pair of capris pants and an off the shoulders shirt, pulled her locs up at the top, clicked her satchel onto her body and threw on some socks and sneakers. She floated her mask over to herself and sealed the door behind her as she transported from the fortress.

She and Simon had parted ways at the cottage, mainly because she was being summoned to the queen, because of her poor decision to kiss Simon in front of the entire fair. And now? He was going to be sent through the labyrinth tomorrow. By sunrise, her father was going to erect a labyrinth leading from the earth cottage to the academy. It would only vanish whenever Simon came out on the other end. This was a way to keep wanderers and intruders from getting back to them, but Simon had her blackbird tourmaline, so he would always be able to find her, unless her mother made the parameters stronger. Both of her parents were terrified that she had been enchanted (read tainted) by a conductor, and neither of them gave her a chance to explain who he was! Not even her father!! They banished her to her room “until he is out of the kingdom.”

Naturally, for her, that meant until they went to sleep and she could get out of the fortress, because she knew that they expected her to just respect their wishes. Maybe tomorrow, she would have magical restrictions keeping her trapped in her room. But, if she could see Simon one more time, it could be worth it. Maybe, they could even... run away together? She felt silly for thinking that, but... she had waited her entire life for him, and now that she had him, just sending him away felt so... wrong.

She trekked through the woods, not wanting to be spotted out in the yard by the guards, but not wanting to use her magic and set off anyone’s sense of her presence, either. By the time she reached her cottage and hiked down to the front door, she knew she was probably filthy and smelly. She didn’t care. She opened the door and saw Simon, fast asleep. He was making noises and she approached, only to touch his face. “Grace...” he moaned. 

She kissed him on the forehead. Maybe she could... wait.. think it through. She was considering leaving with someone who she didn’t know anything about except for the fact that he was quite possibly the Conductor’s right hand! Maybe once upon a time he was her soul mate, but... she didn’t have time to change him, UNLESS she left with him. She didn’t even know if he would _want_ her to. The tears were forming in her eyes and she got up and transported out. 

.

_In the moonlight, near the lagoon, she was wearing practically nothing… It was fabric, but so thin he could make out every outline of her body, and he did. He watched intently as she danced beneath the moon whether worship or summoning him to herself, he was enchanted and driven by desire to come closer. He reached her and she turned to see him, her cheerful smile gone, replaced with a deep, lustful stare, and he bowed at her feet, ready to give her anything that she wanted. She didn’t even have to ask... “I’m yours, Grace.”_

Simon got up and looked at his shaking hands. The venom in his system had given him a fever and he was sweating and apparently having fever dreams, because he had thought about Grace every single time that he closed his eyes. He opened his bag and searched through his potions. The only thing that MIGHT satisfy the bloodthirsty magic inside of that blood oath was the blood of his enemies. The only bad part about that was that they would either sense, see or smell it on him. They would know their own kind had been slain by his hands. They would know who he was… not some misguided wanderer getting ready to go home, but their worst nightmare. 

He settled on another pain deterrent, checked the source of his discomfort and saw it was now spreading. He said an incantation to drain it, and knew that was only a temporary measure and that it would come back more relentless soon, but that shit hurt and he needed the fever to go down so that he could plot out how to get near the queen in order to kill her, to break her spell of protection around Grace… who… probably didn’t deserve to die, but if it had to be her or him, he was always going to be for himself. No matter how delicious her lips looked. He grabbed his satchel and stepped into his shoes. There was probably something that he could sacrifice in those woods to keep the bloodlust at bay.

Simon walked through the woods for a while, feeling extremely weak and tired. He didn’t know if there was something in the air causing this... perhaps to make sure that he didn’t escape before being placed in the king’s labyrinth the next day? Whatever the case, the he figured that if he didn’t kill something and appease the oath, he would die before he had the chance to do anything else anyway... He saw someone moving around. He thought maybe a woman? She was barely clothed, very beautiful, with flowing hair that seemed to be her only covering and wings. She didn’t look real. His eyes glowed and she was easily one of the most powerful pieces of magic that he had ever seen. His eyes returned to normal. Could he even overtake her, feeling how he felt?

.

In the woods, Grace heard something moving, felt a very unsettling presence. Not necessarily a sinister one, but one that was desperate and most likely dangerous. She pulled out slips of paper and tossed them into the sky. They formed origami birds and flew off for reconnaissance. One of them returned with a mirror like surface, and her reflection turned into a hooded figure slaying a winged woman. “No!” She hissed and outstretched her arms to summon the birds back and guide her to this crime... She was too late. 

Grace rushed to the body... practically DRAINED of blood, her throat sliced by a conductor’s dagger, her chest stabbed and her heart hollowed out. She cradled the woman’s head and took off one of her gloves to touch her. Light, came from her fingertips and the woman gasped. “Come on, Grace. You can do this. You don’t need to be ‘complete.’ You’re enough! You can save her!” She told herself, as her vision became blurry with tears and the woman’s wings flapped weakly and her arms flailed. She was too far gone for Grace to turn this around... She took her hand off of her and let her die. She placed her glove back on her hands and pulled out a raven made of crystal. 

When she released it into the air, it shot into the sky like a firework, creating a beacon and an alarm. Grace pulled the woman closer to herself and held her in her arms, “I’m so sorry I couldn’t save you.” It took only a moment for the soldiers to arrive. “There is a murderer in our realms. Find them and execute them,” Grace said. 

“Yes, Princess,” they said and vapored away. Meanwhile, those who collected their dead took the woman off of her hands and she stormed to the cottage. Simon was asleep, or pretending to be whenever she came in. She ungloved her hand and walked over to him. He was the ONLY person in the area that might do something like this. It HAD to be him. She reached out, her fingertips glowing red and noticed the necklace on him was pointed at her. She picked it up in her palm and it burned her hand, but she didn’t let it go. How the hell had he gotten this past her solitude spell? _See? He’s more powerful than you thought. He’s dangerous. He’s a murderer..._

“Grace?” he said, sounding all innocent, looking all... feverish? She let go of the pendant and her hand stopped glowing, as well. He sat up and wondered, “Are you okay?” His hands immediately went to her bare shoulders and she wanted to be vulnerable with him. She wanted the thumbs stroking her skin to be safe for her. She wanted his hands to collect her and hold her until she didn’t feel betrayed and terrified and enraged.

“No. There was a brutal murder in the woods tonight.” She glanced around the room. His boots had tonight’s earth on them. His scent smelled of the trees and flowers. But... there was no sign of blood... “Someone from your territory slayed a winged woman.”

“You have harpies here?”

“Not a harpy. A winged woman. They are manifestations of hopes and dreams. They are signs of greatness and elevation... And someone murdered her, like she was nothing.” She fought not to cry. Simon sat up fully and pulled her into an embrace. She let him hold her. It. Felt. So. Genuine. Like her cared. “You don’t smell like blood.”

“Why would I?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. He scoffed and let go of her, “You think that _I_ did this? Why would I do this, when as far as I know, I’M the only conductor here? I would be the obvious suspect, Grace.”

“You ARE the obvious suspect,” she slapped some rings onto his wrist and they bound him. “And, someone in this kingdom will be powerful enough to find out the whole truth.” A tear ran down her face at his hurt expression.

“Grace... You CAN’T think that I’m capable of this? that I would do this to you? I wasn’t even going to leave in the morning. I was going to just try to find my way back to you! I wouldn’t do something this reckless, even if I was on a hunt, you would NOT catch me! I thought... I thought we were connecting.” He. Really. Seemed. So. Hurt.

“I did too. Then I watched a symbol of hope die in my arms.”

Simon lowered his head and let out a shaky breath. “I couldn’t kill anyone if I tried. Something’s wrong with me. I’m sick. I’m sure I’m dying. I will admit, I came here with bad intentions, but I swear to you, I didn’t do this.”

“Well, my mother will be able to tell me everything that I need to trust you... or not trust you.”

“I... get to come before the queen?... Ah.” That was it then. Amelia must’ve orchestrated something to get him in that position. She always had a plan. 

Grace reached out and snatched the pendant from his neck. “Yeah. She might be one of the last things that you ever get to see.” She got up and opened the curtain. Her guards came in and carried him towards the fortress, towards the queen of the witches of the One... His target. Despite what he had been starting to believe, Grace obviously wasn’t the woman who she seemed to be... the woman that he was about to die not to hurt. She didn’t believe him. That actually hurt more than the venom in his system or the forceful rings around his wrist. _I thought we were connecting... and I wasn’t going to use it against her..._

They looked at each other. All he wanted right now was for her to believe in him. To just take these cuffs off and run off with him. He could drop dead in her arms. He just wanted her to believe him! As she accompanied his escorts to the queen, they passed by wailing witches who all glared at him. Lucy was emotionless as he passed. The two of them stared at each other and she... didn’t even seem angry or upset with him. She looked like she felt bad for him... or maybe for Grace, whose hand she grabbed them pulled back suddenly. Grace replaced her glove and then took Lucy’s hand again. She would need her.


	8. Long Live the King

Simon wasn’t sure how he was going to get out of this. He weighed his options, like any skilled warrior would. This was a perfect set up, by Amelia, he presumed, for him to have a chance to face off with the Queen, kill her to break her protective magic, and make good on his blood oath. But, that was what also brought him to his dilemma… He didn’t want to hurt Grace.

Grace wasn’t what Amelia thought. He watched her throughout the fair. She was charming and charismatic, even manipulative at times, but generally that seemed to be a defense mechanism. She was the princess. She couldn’t just do, say, be what she wanted. She had to keep up certain appearances. She had to make the people feel a certain way… and she was very good at it. She even got to him…

And when they kissed, he felt like he was whatever the emotional equivalent was of everything falling into place, being just as it should be and designed for greater purposes and his best good. It wasn’t some lust filled fantasy taking over him, either. This was real. He couldn’t say he loved her. He still didn’t know her, but he could say that he felt like he was meant to. That wasn’t a feeling that Simon Timmens ever had.

So, here he was, in a battle of survival vs sacrifice. Everything he worked for couldn’t be undone because of a kiss, no matter how life changing it felt. It couldn’t be risked for a woman, no matter how beautiful she was or how kind she seemed.

She had taken the necklace from him, so he didn’t know if Amelia could still see into the palace, if she even was still posted in the Conductor’s observatory. Most likely, she had made her way to the fortress, ready for the in that he would create whenever the Queen fell and her protective measures were weakened. Surely, there was backup magic, but many of the people would stammer for at least a moment, giving someone with Amelia’s power the ability to breach the defenses. Simon was certain that someone’s kingdom was falling tonight.

The Queen was in what was essentially her night clothes, but she had a staff with her. The King’s army, vast and full of magical creatures of all sorts, wearing uniforms of the One, wielding weapons at the ready, stood prepared in the chamber room whenever she came in. The King had changed into his formal wear. The Queen must have not even taken the threat as seriously as anyone else did, because she didn’t even have her crown and from all accounts, she was NEVER seen in anything less than her best presentation.

“Grace, come forward and tell me what this is all about,” the woman said. Her accent was different than Grace’s. But, Simon remembered that she was from a further realm, that her marriage to the king had expanded the realms of the One, and was one of the main reasons that she was chosen. She had to work to make her magic worthy enough, day and night, for 16 years, she had to train for this position, despite being granted it at birth. Royal life seemed exhausting. Simon felt like if you were powerful enough and brave enough, you could dethrone anyone.

Grace kneeled before her parents and lowered her head, “Your Highness, while out in the King’s woods, I felt a dangerous presence. I investigated and discovered a winged woman under attack. By the time I reached her, it was too late. She is being prepared for peaceful rest.” She stood and dared to look at her parents.

Her father looked sympathetic. Her mother looked irritated.

“You were out in the King’s woods without permission nor guard. You witnessed one of the most vile crimes committed in these realms… Your punishment is that fate.” Grace nodded once. The Queen sighed and turned her attention to Simon. He stared back at her, emotionless and unreadable. That would change soon. “This is the conductor that you found in the enchanted forests and brought into the safety of our grounds? And now, you suspect that he had something to do with the winged woman who was slain.”

“I don’t suspect him, My Queen. But, he is the only person that we know of who is here and I brought him before you for your wise and powerful review.” Grace moved Simon towards the Queen and he winced when her hand touched the throbbing infection beneath his arm.

He realized that the cuffs on him dampened his magic, so he wouldn’t be any match for the Queen in those regards, but she wasn’t a physical fighter. If he could get close enough to her to stop her from casting a spell, he could physically take her down. Even if he didn’t make it out of the room, the Institute would be safe. The Conductor would know that he did his best. The staff glowed brighter than anybody’s eyes could stand, save the Queen. Even the King winced in its glory. While Simon groaned in pain, feeling like he was being burned from the inside out, the Queen remained perched perfectly on her throne.

The staff stopped and she sighed. “Well. He didn’t kill the winged woman, but he shall be put to death, at once.”

Grace gasped and moved forward. “Wait, what does that mean?”

“Which words in particular were skipped during your vocabulary studies, Grace?” The Queen asked.

“I mean… if he didn’t kill the winged woman, why would we put him to death? That was the crime that he was brought before you, accused of!”

The Queen glared at him, “HE knows why.”

Grace stood between her mother and Simon and put her hands up, “My Queen, Mom… Please. There’s something else about Simon that I need you to know…”

“That you love him? I know it. But, I’m afraid that I can’t take that into account when I have now verified his crimes against this kingdom, and his plans for you.” The Queen glared at Simon and he lowered his face for the first time since coming into the room. Grace looked at him. “Right. You don’t see it. Grace, this man is not who you seem to think.” She used the scepter to lift his arm and the vile infection throbbed more than ever before. Everyone gasped. Grace didn’t know what she was even looking at. “That is blood magic. An oath that he made and sealed with the blood of his enemies, OUR people. An oath that he made to kill YOU, Grace.” Grace took a step back from Simon.

“I didn’t know you!” Simon offered.

“And you would have killed me anyway?” She asked, trying to hold back tears.

“You got to know me and still slapped cuffs on me to bring me to before your mother for war crimes.”

“And it’s a good thing that I didn’t let my feelings for you cloud my good judgment!” Grace said, tears flowing from her eyes. “I wanted to clear your name. I followed the law and you… You would have taken my life without even getting to see my face.”

“I wasn’t going to do it! This is killing me, Grace! I’m… I’m willing to die for you. I’ve never felt that way about another person. But, to have you look at me like that… that’s so much worse than dying will be..” He had tears in his eyes too.

Grace clasped her hands together and turned to her mother again, “I do love him, but that’s not what I was going to say. I brought him to the fair, as I’m sure you were told. My oracle saw him, she gave me his destiny. Intertwined with mine… Mom, this is my soulmate.”

The Queen looked at Grace with the most sympathy that Grace had ever seen in all of her years. “Pet child, please escort the princess to the healing chambers,” she said to Lucy. Lucy nodded once and reached for Grace’s hand.

“Don’t call her that! Lucy is my heiress and she deserves respect! ESPECIALLY, if you intend to kill my soulmate!”

The Queen snarled, “Grace, I don’t have time for one of your little tantrums right now. Are you saying that the life of this one conductor means more to you than all of those that he has slain? Touch him! Touch him and tell me that he is worth salvation!” She ripped one of Grace’s gloves off and forcefully placed her hand on the blood oath seal.

Grace let out a howling pain.

Simon asked, “What are you doing to her???”

“Showing her her birthright, for once. Letting her see what I see when I read you… Letting her see what you’ve DONE.” Simon sobbed and he shook his head, pleading. He didn’t want Grace to see that, but also, she appeared to be in pain. She collapsed to the ground and he rushed to kneel beside her but she crawled away from him hurriedly and cradled herself against Lucy’s side.

“So many murders. So many just to steal their power…” She sobbed. “I felt every last one of their deaths, their sorrow in those last moments… your… complete lack of empathy!”

He bit his lip and shut his eyes, letting the tears pour as they might, “I’m sorry, Grace.”

She looked at Lucy, “He’s the reason…” Lucy simply held back tears. “Your village was his first mission. I’m sorry, Lucy. So sorry…”

The Queen raised her staff, “By the power of the One and for the sake of this kingdom, Simon, the Conductor, I hereby sentence you to eternity in torment. When you have lived out the lives of every being you have slain, you will be back here, to die at my feet. It won’t take nearly as long for us as it will for you, but you will know the pain that I know, that my daughter now knows…”

“I can’t let you do that,” a voice said from the doors of the chambers. Guards were at the ready to attack, when they saw an old woman, dressed in an all white battle uniform. Her yellow eyes were focused on the Queen as she marched towards the throne, a barrier around her that none of the guards could seem to penetrate.

“You’re alive!” The Queen said. She handed the staff to her husband and greeted the old woman with a hug. Grace looked at this image in front of her. She had never seen her mother show affection to anybody who wasn't herself or her father and even then, it didn’t happen in front of others. But, almost as soon as the contact was initiated, the Queen recoiled from the woman. “You…”

“I did what I had to, in Simon’s name,” the woman said. She held her hands out in front of her, and they were gloved, but the gloves were stained in what they all knew was the blood of the winged woman.

“This?” The Queen pointed at Simon. “We don’t see you in years and you return, in such a way over THIS? First my daughter, and now you? WHAT is it about him that makes you a fool?”

“This is Simon. Abelard’s son,” Samantha said. Simon looked confused and the Queen stumbled back.

She approached Simon again, looking at him, staring at his face, actually paying attention to him, this time. She laughed. “The stupidest jawline. The thinnest lips and the frailest nose ever invented,” she said, thinking of years before. Of her best friend who died in battle, whose son she swore to take care of and raise beside her own child before his mother took him back to her home, just wanting to be safe from the life that took her husband away… “Green eyes that make you forget how stupid the rest of his face is…” The Queen’s lip quivered.

“What is going on???” Grace finally asked, annoyed and terrified and confused.

The old woman looked at the Queen, “Should I tell her, or will you?”

The Queen sat back on her throne, exhausted. “Abelard Laurent… We were raised side by side. His parents were an old nobel magic family, but his soul mate was a common girl, who magic had skipped. That didn’t matter to him. He loved her more than the moon and stars. He also loved his kingdom. He loved the One. He was willing to die for him, and the Conductor made certain that he did.

She had risen to power in his territory, claimed it in the name of her dead lover, who Abelard had suspected of vile magic. Whenever the guards seized him to be brought before Abelard, as the lord of those realms… there was a horrible accident. This wizard, a meek man with impeccable smarts and a thirst for magic fell from the horse and was trampled over. Abelard tried everything he could to save him. That wasn’t how we did things! We didn’t execute citizens for suspicion of vile magic! But… Amelia was convinced that Alrick was unjustly killed. She took up magic to get her revenge. She took over a temple of the One that Abelard was guardian of. She made pacts with new stewards, built new disciples, and murdered Abelard… We never even recovered his body from her. She did send me his skull…” Grace looked at Simon, who was aghast.

Reflexively, she put a hand on his shoulder.

“When he died, he had a one year old son named Simon. Of course, hearing the name Simon was nothing to hint to me this was the same boy. Simon is fairly common in those realms. We were going to retrieve he and his mother, bring them here for safety. She haphazardly tried a conductor’s spell to hide them, burrowed him away for safekeeping, and we…” The Queen cried, “I. Cursed him with an illness. One that could only be taken away by my own hand, or that of my daughter’s… to show her… we were where she belonged… I just… wanted to do right by Abelard and care for his son. I would have lifted the curse if I sensed him too close to death!”

“You tortured a baby with illness?” Grace asked.

“I tried to keep his mother from making a terrible mistake.”

“Congratulations to you,” Simon said, crying angrily, “You placed me right into the hands of the person who… who killed my father…" he looked at the ground as it just occurred to him what the Queen was saying, as he said it. Amelia, his mentor, his savior, his Conductor… she had killed his real father…

"And mother," Samantha said. "After using Alrick's genes to heal you, she doubled back to your mother, to ensure that nobody would claim you."

Simon glared at the woman, "Why would you let her do all of this to me? I thought you were my friend!"

She touched the cuffs and they fell from his wrists so that she could properly hug him. "I wanted to tell you when you were old enough to understand, but you were so faithful to Amelia that I couldn't. The magic that binds my blood and yours would never allow me to work against you, and Amelia has taken over your heart. If I had told you, you wouldn't have believed me, and might have killed me… then there would have been no one to support you."

He jerked away from her, "I was raised by someone who murdered my family. She took away my rightful place at the chance to be a king. You just… stood by. How is that support?"

"Who do you think fed you, cleaned you in when you were small? Did you forget? Did you think Amelia was the motherly type? She would have raised you in a dungeon as a slave! She didn't know who you were at first, but the moment she realized, she would have fed you to three headed dogs! Instead, she… made you in her likeness. Built your trust in her. Tricked you into this blood oath."

He wiped away his tears, determined to man up. "And now she gets to be responsible for falling my house. For killing the entire bloodline she feels is responsible for Master Alrick's death…"

"No. That's why I'm here," Samantha reached for her conductor's dagger and lofted it towards Grace. The entire thing happened so fast that mostly everyone missed the details. Lucy's eye noticed the blade before anyone and she jumped into defense mode, sure that the old woman was trying to kill her princess. Lucy's fingernails became claws and she lunged forward, not knowing the levels of Samantha's power nor the strength of the barrier surrounding her. Much like Simon had been ejected from Grace before, Lucy went flying across the room, unfortunately, with Samantha's dagger in her abdomen. Grace screeched so loudly ears bled and glass cracked. When she appeared beneath Lucy, her body cradled to her, the girl barely had any life left in her. "What did you do???" Grace asked.

"She had a weapon. I couldn't allow her to use it against my future queen…" Lucy whimpered. Grace removed her other glove and Simon looked at Samantha, who was just as stunnedas anyone.

"That was an accident. I wasn't going to hurt her. I was handling over my weapon," the woman said. She never liked to see anyone die, but children especially were hard for her. This Lucy child… she couldn't bear it.

Grace placed both hands on Lucy and Lucy began to convulse. Everyone looked shocked and afraid, except for the Queen. She just looked sad.

Lucy sat up abruptly, with a huge gasp and the dagger fell from her and clanked against the floor. She looked at Grace, ready to cheer her on for finally mastering her ability to heal, but when she did, Grace fell down groaning and clutching herself. Simon rushed over. "Grace?" He was hesitant to touch her, but worried.

"Her healing is empathetic. He has to feel what they felt in order to save someone," the Queen said. Simon cradled Grace and she cried, holding herself. "It's a queen's burden, to know the pain of her subjects. To protect them as she would herself…" she came over and touched Grace's chin, lifting her face to look her in the eyes, "Mummy's proud of you. But, I'm afraid the pain doesn't end here. This is merely the beginning of your labor pains." Grace sobbed, lowering her hands as her pain resided. Simon fumbled to get her gloves back on her hands.

She looked embarrassed. She felt weak. "I've never seen you feel any pain," Grace said to the Queen.

"My staff helps me to harness it." They helped Grace up and she looked at the others, still ashamed of herself. "I still must sentence," the Queen said.

Samantha kneeled before the Queen, "As familiar and guardian to the Laurent bloodline, my blood is kin."

"What?" Simon said.

"She intends to take your punishment, to free you from the binding of the oath. In doing so, she becomes a proxy for the bloodline she is attached to. Her death frees you," the Queen explained.

"No!" Simon shouted. "I'm the one who agreed to it! It's MY burden to bear."

"Over a hundred years ago, I vowed myself to the Laurent bloodline. If you die, my life is meaningless anyway."

"But… you're my only friend. You're the only one who actually cared about me. You said it yourself. You took care of me…"

"I see you standing next to your destiny," Samantha said, looking at Grace. "She's even more perfect for you than I thought."

Grace intertwined her fingers with Simon's and he cried again. He hated how much he was crying, but he really didn't know what else to do. This was his fault. He'd let Amelia deceive him his entire life and now, he was going to lose his best friend, his only friend… his… mother… "He's your problem now," Samantha joked.

Lucy took Simon's other hand and he looked down at her. She offered a sympathetic squeeze to his hand and a soft smile. "He's our family, now," she said in a low voice.

The Queen lifted her staff and Samantha's white robes turned red as her blood burst forth from every pore and her body crumbled to the ground, then faded to dust, while the bloody garment remained.

Simon groaned as the seal bled, the throbbing veins tremored and then set into his flesh like thorns, bleeding him for a moment, then fading into his flesh, no more than a tattoo beneath his arm. He touched it and looked at Samantha's cloak.

The Queen declared Samantha's blood payment for Simon's crimes against the kingdom, but seeing him as the future king still didn't sit right with her. Then again, it had been a long night. She dismissed everyone and she and the King remained there, to talk about where they would go from here.

Simon, Grace and Lucy all sat on Grace's bed, staring straight ahead. Nobody was speaking. After a while, Grace asked, "Are you mad at me?"

She and Lucy looked at Simon. He just shut his eyes and shook his head. "How can I be mad at you when you're all that I have left?" She collected him to herself and he cried against her neck. They crawled into the bed and Grace reached for Lucy, as well. Whatever tomorrow held, she had almost lost everything tonight… and she just needed to hold on to it, just in case she wouldn't be so "lucky" tomorrow.


	9. Soul Mates

Lucy was the first one out of bed and working on things in the room whenever Simon stirred. “She sleeps hard. You won’t wake her,” she said, not facing him. He was startled by her voice, not expecting her, then he looked around, seeing Grace curled up into his side, dried tear stains on her cheeks, blood and dirt in her clothes - and last night came flooding over him like the blood that shed from Samantha’s body. He had for a moment forgotten that everything in his life had been a lie… that he had nothing else left…

“What, do you have eyes in the back of your head or something?” he asked, irritated as he tried to separate himself from Grace without waking her.

“Just the one,” Lucy said, deadpan. He was startled again. Surely, she was joking. Probably had some kind of magic to check on her surroundings.… “Whenever Grace tried to heal what your raid did to my eye, she messed up. It wound up literally in the back of my head. We’re the only three people who know that.” Simon frowned and he came over. She parted the hair in the back of her head and he jumped back with a yelp. Surely… there was an eye! “You think it startled you? You should have seen when I discovered that I was like this.”

“Ugh… Can she fix it?” He asked, covering it back up with her hair.

“I’m used to it now. It gives me an advantage, most of the time and only had my balance and stuff off until I mastered the new me. Besides, I would never ask anything else of her. You saw what happened last night.” They both looked at Grace and Lucy added, “I know that you think you’re the center of the universe right now, but she’s going through a lot too. Soul mates and all that.”

He wasn’t even going to argue with the rest of it. Grace had a bad night, surely. Seeing her live through the pain of being stabbed by a conductor’s dagger was terrifying. But, she hadn’t actually lost anyone, and certainly not the last person she had. “I don’t fucking understand what that even means.” 

Lucy sighed and she folded her arms. “It’s sort of like a magical dating engine. The magic looks out into your future and reveals the person best suited for you, and someone tells the royals and nobles. There are oracles whose ONLY job is to prophecy soul mates for them.”

“So, it’s not destiny. It’s just a presumption.”

“No. It’s more than that. Because without it, non magic people… and some magic ones, I guess… they marry whoever, or date whoever. They wind up going through ugly relationships and being hurt or disappointed. These people never have to do that, unless of course something happens to their soulmate, or they aren’t able to be with them. But, after an oracle gives the prophecy, usually, the royals will tether those souls, to draw them together. They call it intertwining their destinies.”

“So, it isn’t a presumption. It’s orchestrated.”

“Look, if you don’t like Grace, I’m sure the Queen will find someone to untether you. She doesn’t like you.”

“No!” Simon shook his head, “That’s not… I’m trying to understand it. understand why my choices in life aren’t my own. Why I’m trapped between being with someone or trying to kill her.” Lucy brandished her weapon and pointed it at him. He flicked his finger and it flew from her little hands. “I obviously didn’t mean right now, Lucy.” He had his hand opened, summoned the weapon back and handed it to her. She stared at him, suspiciously. “What, were you just waiting for a reason to attack me?”

“Things were better when you didn’t exist to us.” She put her weapon away and checked on Grace. “We knew what we were going to do. Now, we have to try to refigure things. Her soul mate is damaged. Tainted by fake magic. That means SHE’S tainted, too. She’s tethered, and even if she weren’t… you aimed to kill her.”

“I didn’t know. Anyway, this is the Queen’s fault. She put me in Amelia’s clutches in the first place by cursing me!”

“I’ll be sure to tell the spirits the next time I pay my respects to my destroyed village.”

He kneeled next to Lucy and she reached for her weapon again. He pushed it right back into the sheath and said, “I am truly sorry… I’m not used to that feeling…”

She sighed and replied, “It isn’t orchestrated, either. Imagine that someone custom ordered a person to be the love of your life, the Queen and the King created the order for you, put it on hold and labeled it yours. So that whenever you finally come to pick it up, you automatically have everything you wanted, and its reserved for you.”

“What the hell is this analogy? What is a custom order?”

“Does… do the Conductor realms really not have markets?”

“Markets? Like… in storybooks?”

“Wow. Okay, how do you get supplies?”

“Raid the One’s realms.”

“For fuck’s sake.”

“Hey! Don’t use that language with me. I don’t care if you use it, but not with me. But, please… what the fuck is a market?”

“We go there with payment. We give them payment. They give us supplies.”

“Wait… So… they just let you take what they have in exchange for something else? Is it like the fair?”

“Sort of… But, there’s usually a price, and we usually have at least an idea of what we intend to buy. Like… say that someone wanted a dress like Grace’s. A person who makes dresses very nicely would make a dress like Grace’s, and the someone could go to them with the amount that they tell them the dress is worth, give them that amount and take the dress.”

“I guess… I don’t understand the work you put into this. Is the dress maker a skilled fighter and deadly wizard? Can they thwart a raid?”

“No,” Lucy said through her teeth. “The dressmaker doesn’t fight. She. Makes. Dresses.”

“How does she keep them if she can’t fight?”

“You know what, forget it. Also, I’m definitely gonna be using the word fuck if I have to explain basic lifestyle to you.” Grace began to stir as Simon was about to give her a piece of his mind, so he went silent. Lucy strummed Grace’s face and Grace settled back into sleeping and drooling. Lucy shook her head. “Gross.”

“I think it’s kinda cute…” Simon said. Lucy glared at him. “So… what did she mean when she said that you’re her heiress?”

Lucy took a deep breath. “That doesn’t matter anymore. She has you now. A real heir will soon come.”

Simon looked deep in thought, “I didn’t come here to take more away from you… I didn’t even… I just… I wish Samantha was here…” He said, tears welling in his eyes as his mind was vividly reminded of how she looked the last time he saw her, that graphic burned into his memory.

“I get that. I wish that my mommy hadn’t been killed in front of me, too,” Lucy said. She had A LITTLE sympathy for him, but only a little. “I have work to do. I’m going to trust you two at least to not make your heir while I’m gone.”

“I’m mourning,” Simon said, with a scoff.

“I’ve heard that’s how people mourn sometimes,” she said, with a shrug. A few birds later, she was gone. Simon curled up around Grace again and he couldn’t sleep, even though he hadn’t gotten any rest when he had slept, but, he at least wasn’t alone. He somehow felt like that was the one upside. The one thing to hold on to. He wasn’t alone.

“I’m going to kill Amelia,” he said, to nobody, as Grace was sleep, Samantha was dead and Lucy had left. He didn’t even realize that the pendant was still in Grace’s possession. That Amelia had heard everything. That she was already about to give the treacherous prince his chance to try.


	10. Mothership

It was true. There was no way that she could get in there without him. Amelia needed Simon on her side to even be able to break through the barriers that were put up around the Magical kingdom. That was the reason that she kept him around for so long even after she realized exactly who he was. And it was the reason that she was going to be able to get in now even though she no longer held his heart. 

What was tethering her to Simon now? Why it was the rage. It was the betrayal. It was the entire life of lies and being a tool. Amelia knew that Simon would feel the way that he felt if he ever found out. So while she needed a connection to him with that necklace, his rage was just going to have to do right now. 

The stewards flew through the enchanted forests like wraiths, seeking out the magic of the witches one the one. Amelia sat on her horse, donned in her ear gear, a sphere containing all the magic that she had ever collected through Simon's dedication, and she pointed her Conductors' dagger forward. All of the children from the institution charged, and as Amelia lifted the sphere in her hand green lightning struck from the sky and a wall form to become a portal to lead her right to Simon and right to that kingdom.

The pendant shattered and poured green light all throughout the room. The staff and others who were around crumbled as the portal opened inside of the castle. And through the green light and the ashes it created of those unfortunate enough to be near the necklace came Amelia and her Army…

.

Simon had not coped at all. Instead he spent most of his time training for war. He knew it was coming - he could feel Amelia. He could sense her bloodlust. His nearly matched hers at the moment, after finding out all that she had taken from him and all that she wanted to take away. Grace. He looked over at her, next to her father as he instructed soldiers to reinforce any weak spots into the fortress. 

The Queen watched from the tower. She and Simon made eye contact and she turned away. Every time she looked at him, she saw her deceased friend, but she also saw an enemy. Someone who did harm to her kingdom, most times irrevocable harm. Someone who intended to bed her precious daughter, a daughter only fit for a true king, which he might have been destined to be at some point, but she simply couldn't see that realistically in her mind today. But also… guilt. She felt like he may never have lost his way if only she had done a better job of looking after him when Abelard died. Guilt over the curse that was supposed to bring him home, but instead led him into the Conductor's clutches. 

She had just vanished from the few of the window when everyone heard a tremendous chorus of noise and the tower collapsed! 

Grace screamed, "MOM!" And she, her father and Simon rushed towards the falling tower. There was a bright ball of light that crashed to the ground and left a crater. Grace reached it first, sliding down on her knees to get to the bottom. Her mother was sprawled out, the staff in hand. 

"Fortress.. infiltrated…" she said, weakly. 

Grace removed her gloves to heal her mother, screaming in pain as she did.

The King looked at Simon, "You're with me." Simon nodded once, brandished his blade and rushed towards the castle with the king. Grace groaned through her own pain to pull the queen from the crater, and noticed Simon and her father going inside, where most of the noise was. She let out a loud war cry and every available warrior came rushing. 

“There’s children! There are children everywhere!” she heard in her headset… which technically was just magical earrings.

“Are they real?” She wondered.

Simon replied, “They are. They’re students from the Institution.”

“Well, we can’t hurt them…” Grace said, as though it were obvious.

“They won’t hesitate to kill your people, Grace,” Simon told her.

“Lucy!” Grace called.

“On it!” Lucy said. 

Grace saw a multitude of birds swarm into the castle and heard in her earpiece, “Great, now there are birds everywhere. I can’t see anything.”

“Give it a moment… Lucy?”

There was the noise of the birds, screaming children and confused soldiers, but then Grace saw the swarms carrying children out of the castle (out of harm’s way) and Lucy said, “Done.” 

“Who uses children as pawns?” Grace wondered. 

The Queen sat up and cracked her neck. She hadn’t been involved in a battle in a long time. “Take my daughter to her safe haven,” she told the guards.

“What? Mom! I can fight! I can help!”

“You’re the future of this kingdom. The best help that you can give us is to stay safe and to stay put.”

“But I-” Grace watched her mother point the staff at them within moments, she had been relocated. “-’m the only one who can heal others!” She touched her ear, “Lucy?” Nothing. “Simon!” Nothing. She looked at her sphinx guards. There was no way that she could get over on them. That was why they were commissioned for the duty of guarding her. 

.

Simon and the King actually fought quite well beside each other. They hadn’t practiced any drills, so a lot of it was simply paying attention and anticipating the moves of the other, some of it was gestures, signals or facial expressions from the other, and a little of it was probably magic. Simon couldn’t see Amelia anywhere, but he could sense her. She was moving away from them. Where was she trying to go? He wanted to give chase, but he definitely couldn’t leave the King in the heat of battle. What if something happened to him? Grace would never forgive him. 

They cleared the castle and workers rushed in to begin using their magic to rebuild. Simon felt that was the time to seek out Amelia. “I’m going after the Conductor,” he said.

“I’ll come with.”

“Your Highness, I know her. I know how she fights and what she’s capable of. I can’t let you face off with her…”

The King and several of the warriors laughed. “I was trained as a warrior and a wizard before that woman even came in contact with a spellbook. Besides, if I let something happen to you, my little Fuzzy Bunny would never forgive me. Now, let’s get to it.” 

“Fu.. Fuzzy Bunny?” If Grace didn’t know, Simon was NEVER going to let her live that down. “Grace?” He called, trying to contact her through the link that she seemed to have to everyone earlier.

“Her mother hid her away,” the King said. “That’s her prime directive as Queen. Protect the throne and the kingdom.” Simon nodded, once. “That’s also Grace’s prime directive, as Queen. The King protects the Queen. The Queen protects everything that matters to him.”

“Where is the Queen, right now?”

“Fortifying the Mothership.”

“Is that where the One lives?”

“It is where we are able to commune with the One.”

“That will be where Amelia is heading!” The King grabbed Simon and transported them to a cavern that appeared to be covered in sparkling crystals. There was a glittering green dome around it that was nearly blinding to Simon. It didn’t seem to bother the King at all, but maybe he couldn’t see magic the way that Simon could… But, wait… Simon looked at the appropriate runes and they weren’t glowing. None of his were… Had he been using natural magic today, without realizing it? Was he using it now, to look at this cavern, “the Mothership,” or was the magic barrier simply so powerful that he couldn’t help BUT to see it. 

The King walked through it and for him, it became an intangible gel that encased the man and allotted him within. Simon walked right into it and it was solid and impenetrable. His runes began to burn his flesh as they glowed and attempted to break through the barrier. This was unconscious. He backed away, hoping that would stop whatever he was doing. But, even ask he backed away, he felt power stirring in him, much like whenever he would go on a raid and rob a place of it's power… He would have himself a sphere. A conduit which would harness the power, absorb it as he drew it out… He gasped and looked behind him. 

There she was, perched on her horse, her body covered in glowing runes, as well as her eyes, green and blazing as she siphoned the power of the barrier through Simon’s body, tracing more runes on him with her wand to do so. “Oh, Simon. You could have had the world at your feet. You were going to be at my side…” He was screaming in pain and had both hands on the barrier now as his body was being covered in runes to facilitate the power that she needed to draw away. 

“Had you do what you were supposed to do, you would still have your meddlesome pet, AND, you would be the future of the magical world. Alas… You weren’t strong enough. Fret not. Your years of work will not be in vain. You are going to be a perfect tool for me getting into this cavern and dethroning the One. Goodbye, Simon.” She pointed her wand forward and green lighting shot from the ends and he watched glowing vines cover his entire body, formulating so many runes that he couldn’t find one portion of blank space on his skin. He screamed, laughed, cried, and then he collapsed, and with him, the barrier. The King and Queen were at the ready, with their weapons. 

Amelia stepped off of her horse and walked over, stepping over Simon’s body, as she did. “You mustn’t blame the boy. He thought that he was powerful. He never knew that most of his power came from me.” She smirked. “And most of my power, I’ve won from defeating you.”

“I’ve never seen you before in my life,” The Queen said and began to twirl her staff and charge at Amelia. Amelia teleported from one place to another, just missing being struck with the staff. She snuck up from the side, punched the Queen in the side of the head and took the staff from her hands. The Queen groaned as Amelia hovered above her, but that was short lived as she had to block the King’s sword with the staff and her Conductor’s dagger. He was a much more skilled fighter, but not as powerful as a wizard, considering that some magic was “taboo,” Amelia would always feel like she had the upper hand in that regard. With the exception of the Queen (who wasn’t as pure as everyone would think. Ha! Cursing a child to trick his mother out of hiding)… And they consider ME evil.

The Queen crawled along the ground over to Simon and cradled his head in her lap. His eyes were glazed over and she could tell that the Conductor had him trapped in some kind of trance. She began to recite a chant and placed her bare hands on his burning hot skin. He blinked, and she frowned down at the young man, whose entire body was covered in those runes… runes that had trapped the magic of the barrier in his body. “Son of Abelard, this will hurt. It can’t be helped…” She said. Her fingernails became long and sharp and she stuck them into his skin. He. Screamed. 

A lot of physical pain had visited the young man today... Amelia turned to the sound of the screaming, looked at the cavern and rushed inside. The King was right on her heels. Simon’s eyes ran and he honestly felt as though all of his flesh were melting, but it was the magic seeping from his runes. The ones that Amelia used to lower the barrier were leaving his flesh like green slimy, burning worms, or green blood, spilling from his orifices.He was kicking his legs and screaming. He had never been in so much pain in his life. Whenever he had been cleansed of those, all that remained were the ones from before and a few new ones that had formed as part of the effort to keep him alive through pain that would have sent most people into shock.

He cried in the Queen’s lap as she cried, silently from the agony of healing without her staff. She withdrew her fingernails and looked at the cavern. Neither herself nor Simon was physically able to help at this moment, in the pain and recovery that their bodies were facing. But, the barrier began to form again as the elixir of those runes seeped into the ground and Simon and the Queen watched it position itself where it belonged. 

“If she gets on that throne…” Simon managed to say, then began trying to pick himself up. 

“I need you to get something to my daughter…” The Queen said. Simon was hardly paying attention to her as she cut open her arm, with her long fingernails and began to draft something onto a scroll. He was trying to see if he could pass the barrier now. He could! “Simon,” the Queen said. Now, THAT got his attention. He turned and she handed him the scroll. “Give this to Grace. It is everything that she will need, as Queen…” 

“Okay,” he said and tucked it away, close to his heart. “But, you’re okay, right?” He saw a light from inside of her, flickering. 

“I’m… feeling years of pain that having my staff made me unaware of. I’m sick, and taking on that healing exacerbated my illness…”

“Your Highness… If you fucking die because you decided to save me, I’m going to suspend your soul in purgatory, just to punish you for doing something so stupid!”

She laughed, then choked up some blood and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “Believe it or not, that is exactly the type of vile thank you that I would have gotten from your father.” She began to imitate a male’s voice with a French accent, but it sounded real, like she was tapping into a voice, “For fuck’s sake, Apollonia! Who would save a knight before a future queen? The Princess of Fucking Fools. If you were wondering, that’s YOU right now!” She laughed, her normal voice back. “Find her. I know that she gave you a way to.”

“Yeah. I’m gonna find her and take you to her so that she can fix this.”

“Simon…”

“We can’t lose anybody else! We couldn’t take it!” Simon fussed and gathered her up into his arms, carrying her bridal style as she coughed again and rested her head on his shoulder. 

“Abelard, what kind of life would I have without my best friend? I’d say it was worth being Princess of Fools. You’re still here, aren’t you?” she said, faintly, having a conversation that he knew that she had long before he was thought of. As he summoned the bird that Grace had given him, he saw the King, stammering towards the exit of the cavern. The Queen’s staff was impaled through his torso and blood was spilling from his mouth. Amelia removed the staff and she and Simon looked right at each other as he and the Queen began to dissipate… Simon’s eyes went to the King’s struggling body and tears fell from green eyes, because he knew that he had to make a choice… and he had already made it. 

The cavern was gone. The king was gone. Amelia was gone. But… the Queen was still holding on. Just barely, though. “Grace?” Simon called and two sphinxes were upon him within minutes. Grace rushed to her mother and began her healing process. The painful process that Simon hated to see her go through, but held her through. Whenever they were all settled in the haven, Grace looked around, “Where’s Daddy?” She asked. Simon opened his mouth, trying to form words, but only tears came. 

She looked at her mother and the Queen admitted, “I no longer feel his soul kissing mine… I’m afraid, he’s dead.”

Grace covered her face with both hands and ran from the room, crying. Simon stood but the Queen flicked a hand and the force sat him back down. “She and her father were close. There’s nothing that you can do to comfort her right now, but give her some space. Meanwhile… you and I have to strategize how to take back the Mothership. You are the next king in line, after all..”

  
  



	11. Why Do We Need a Queen?

The journey back to the realms of the One was harsh. The Queen decided that they needed to go without magic. With the staff, Amelia would be able to detect the moment magic like theirs was used in the realms. Grace was fairly used to that, as she generally had to sneak out and about without hers in order to avoid being caught by her mother. Simon and the Queen were not nearly as comfortable with it, but both as determined, as he had vengeance to inflict and she had a Kingdom to recover. Grace had a father to send off respectfully and a mother to avoid speaking to. If she had just BEEN there, she could have saved him! She didn’t know any of the details, but she was sure of that much.

It would take a few days. Simon insisted that they didn’t have that long. Amelia would devastate the realms of the One within hours. The Queen was confident that she wouldn’t be as successful in an attack against the witches of the One as she had been sneaking up on the communities of denizens. And even though she was healed from her sickness, she was still not as young as the two of them and not as fueled as Grace, who kept getting out of their range, refusing to wait as her mother slowed them down and Simon tried to be sure that they didn’t just leave her behind…

Three long days and cold nights later, they were back… and Amelia had been busy. 

Firstly, the King’s body was impaled outside of the castle, along with other warriors. There was a wall of bodies around them. It was a monument and a warning. Grace immediately brought him down. She wouldn’t be able to bring him back to life, but she could make him more presentable, for a goodbye. Simon shuffled his feet and looked at the Queen. She refused to look at her husband. He was gone and there was nothing that they could do about it now, but there was something that they could do about the Conductor who had taken over the mothership. The Queen outstretched her arms and winds began to blow. Faithful fighters began to appear. Among them, Lucy. 

Grace rushed to collect her into a hug. The girl was filthy and caked in blood. Her eye patch was gone and her hair was pulled up into a mini ponytail. “Are you okay?”

She kneeled in front of the Queen and began to report. Apparently, while they were gone, everyone looked to Lucy for leadership. She was the most familiar person that they knew of who was close to the palace. They accepted her as their guide through this perilous event and she always had a very detailed and accurate report of everything. Her eyes were everywhere. The Queen nodded her head and then spoke with them about the plans that she and Simon had made. 

Grace spoke up, as well, “Umm… I must have been out of it whenever these plans were made… but what makes you think that you can take this woman on? She has your staff because you couldn’t fight in the first place.”

“She has my staff because I let her get close enough to touch me, which happened because I was sick. Which, thanks to you, I no longer am, and thanks to experience, I won’t make that mistake again.”

“It has to be Simon,” Grace said. “The oracle said…”

The Queen wondered, “Yes?”

“She said that the Conductor messed up the magic ecosystem and it would take a very powerful conductor to restore the balance.”

“That could mean a number of things,” The Queen complained. They thought for a moment. “It could mean that he is meant to defeat her. But, it could also mean that he is meant to rule this kingdom. It can even mean that he is meant to father a savior. That’s a very vague and unhelpful prophecy, Grace!” 

“Aren’t they usually?” Simon asked.

“Yes!” The Queen agreed. 

“If I may,” Lucy offered. They all turned to look at her. “The title The Conductor was not one that Amelia took for herself. It was how she was referred to whenever they didn’t know her identity, only that she had been draining power from the realms. In the first writings about her crimes against the One, the witches wrote that a conductor was draining energy without replenishment. That was referring to a tool. They thought perhaps an entity, but presumed most likely a tool was used. It is my judgement that the prophecy given to Our Princess was not about a person, but about a tool. Whatever type of tool that the Conductor uses to drain the magic.”

Simon nodded, “We collect it into crystal spheres. We can’t just drain magic and take it into ourselves. We collect it and then we’re able to control it with possession of the sphere and the guidance of our runes.”

“So… We need a sphere to take her magic away from her?” Grace wondered.

Lucy blushed, “It was only a thought. I know less than everyone here.”

“Nonsense. You actually READ the royal books, and you REMEMBERED something very helpful!” Grace hugged her again. “Simon, where can we find one of those spheres?”

He shook his head, “Amelia usually provided them to me, but I always thought that they were somewhere in her cave. 

The Queen ordered, “Simon! Show Lucy where the cave is…” She kneeled to be at Lucy’s level, for the first time ever, “Lucy… Find a sphere and immediately bring it to me in the Queen’s hidden chambers.”

“Yes, My Queen!” Lucy said louder than she intended. The Queen had never called her by name before. Simon looked at Grace. “She’ll be fine. She’s with me. I won’t let anything happen to her. It’s my top priority.” Grace folded her arms. She wished that it had been a priority to save her father. 

Still, whenever Simon reached for her, she melted against him. She hadn’t really been that warm or gentle with him these past few days, stuck in her own mind and her deep pain. He kissed her on the forehead and said something, some type of chant. She felt something tickle her wrist and she looked down to see some type of bracelet… tattooed on her. “It isn’t permanent. Just something to let you know I’m alright.”

“And when it fades?”

“That means I’m dead.” 

She frowned. She didn’t even want to think about that. But, she noticed that he had one too. “Is that mine?” He nodded. She threw her arms tightly around him and whispered, “If you don’t come back, I don’t know how I’ll keep going!”

“I’m always with you. We’re a team.”

Lucy tugged Simon’s cloak and the two of them stepped off and vanished together. 

Grace looked around and saw the Queen avoiding looking at her. “I’m going to take Daddy’s body, so that we can grant him a proper sending off. The rest, we will do once we’ve succeeded. But, I’m not going to let Our King… my father… just rot here.” The Queen nodded once. “What are the Queen’s hidden chambers?”

“I’m unable to say. There could be spies. But, if you had read the royal books, you would know, and since Lucy apparently has, she knows.” They brought the King’s body some place that Grace wasn’t familiar with. It appeared to be a mausoleum of sorts. There were statues of kings and queens, familiars and pets… They cleaned him up themselves, dressed him in clothes that the Queen summoned, wrapped him in the fabrics of buried royalty, and performed the usual ritual. Grace had heard that the whole kingdom would be present whenever this day came. That they would present gifts, magic, blessings, and that everyone would give him all of their joy and love, and spend days mourning without them. Whenever joy and love returned to their hearts, it would be their sign that the king was at peace and the kingdom was ready to live without him…

But, it was just the two of them, in an empty place made for the decaying shell that a once beautiful and brave man resided in. 

Once he was in the coffin, the Queen shut it and the ground swallowed it and erected a statue in its place. So, that was how it happened. “How are you okay? Did you even love him?” Grace wondered. She hadn’t seen her mother shed a tear. She hadn’t seen her so much as shiver once. She placed a hand on her shoulder with the intent of turning her around and was hit with a flood of loneliness and grief. She hissed and removed her hand. She noticed that she didn’t have her gloves… When had she taken them off? 

The Queen still didn’t react to the emotions that Grace had just felt inside of her. Instead, she said, “You’d better get your gloves back on. You can’t have everyone’s ailments distracting you from the mission. Our Kingdom is relying on us to protect them and save them from this. Your father trusted me to protect his kingdom. He gave his life to ensure that I would be here to do it.”

“I… I don’t want to have to do that. Why do we have kings and queens? Why can’t we have… something else? Someone who WANTS to do these things?”

“Because nobody would take this job if they had the choice.”

“Well… Why do we need a queen?”

“Grace, we have been without a Queen for three days, and Amelia has taken over and killed our people. There will always be forces of evil, powers of destruction, enemies who seek to harm us and our people. We need a queen to ensure their protection.”

“Why can’t the people protect themselves?” Grace asked, sobbing. “Why did Daddy have to die for you or anybody else? Why couldn’t HE choose?”

“He DID choose!” The Queen said, finally losing track of a few tears. She wiped them away and pretended that they had never been. “And I am choosing to do my duty and protect our kingdom...” Lucy appeared, holding a sphere in her hand. The Queen smiled and accepted it. “And now, the plan is back in action.”

“Where is Simon?” Grace asked Lucy. 

“He didn’t get the invitation, so he said to meet him at the Mothership.”

Grace gasped. “He went after her alone? Did he have a sphere?” Lucy shook her head. Grace looked at her mother, “We’re raised that the Queen protects the kingdom. Simon was raised that the people protect the Queen…” They rushed to the Mothership, where Simon was waiting outside, his green eyes and runes glowing and staring at the barrier. Grace let out a sigh of relief and rushed to hug him. 

He stopped glowing and gave her a half smile. “I couldn’t have been gone that long...” 

The Queen circled her hand around the top of the sphere, as she held it in her palm. Amelia had definitely reinforced a barrier of her own, but the sphere absorbed the power in it and the crew was able to get inside. 

Simon was right at the Queen’s side when he heard a small noise and turned to see Lucy vanish through a door. He gasped and said, “Lucy!” to which Grace turned her head too, and no sooner than she realized that Lucy had disappeared, than a door appeared and sucked her through it too, causing a far more dramatic and painful yell from Simon. “GRACE!” He barely had a moment to process seeing her vanish before yet another door appeared and he felt himself being sucked through it..

.

Amelia cursed this place! Where was that throne??? She had been wandering for days, and the only path that she ever really seemed to find was the one that led outside of the Mothership. The One must have been playing tricks. But, she would show him. She was longsuffering and very persistent. The mazes and challenges in this cavern were no match for her sheer will to take all power for herself and then, MAYBE THEN, she could find a way to bring Alrick back. She had taken the king’s body out and given instructions to her army. They were to have everyone line up and offer their magic, in exchange for their lives. All who refused would be killed and laid to rest at the king’s feet.

She went back into this place, only to find that this time, it looked different on the inside. She tried to specify where the magic was, but the bloody staff would try to show her all magic, used everywhere! She wasn’t in tune with it yet, or it's magic purposefully thwarted her. She wasn’t going to let it go, though. Her visions had shown her that the ruler of this staff would stop her heart with it. 

Visions were tricky business. You could only see a part of a picture, a series of pictures, or a moment in time. You had to receive it from a place of organic magic - the spirit of a dead witch, the heirloom of a seer, or the projection of a destiny from someone’s aura.

That was how she knew she needed to take Simon. She was given all of these things through him. He was magic! His small body, in trying to fight off illness was manifesting magic, without his knowledge. She saw part of a picture: him holding hands with a little brown girl. She saw a series of pictures: Them together, growing up, growing close, falling in love. She saw the projection of his aura: Him wearing a crown and her being stripped of all of her power…

But, if she could twist fate. If she could recalibrate his destiny, she would be able to change that unfortunate future. She thought about killing him. Just telling his mother, “This child will die, then magically snuffing the life out of him. But, there was something about him that stopped her. Perhaps it was magic that she didn’t know of. Maybe there was protection over him. But, she didn’t kill him. She wasn’t even sure if she healed him. But, after her ritual, he wasn’t sick anymore, and he… reminded her of Alrick. She came to think of him like she did Alrick… no, not like he was her person, but a tiny person of hers. It would be a stretch to say that she felt like his mother, or like he was Alrick’s child, but she used a portion of Alrick’s remains in her healing spell, and the first rune, the one that was meant to seal the magic that would keep Simon healthy… it resembled Alrick’s birthmark. So… she did have some type of attachment to him for a time. 

He cried a lot. It was annoying. She was thankful when the cat showed up. “I believe that you have my ward.” She had seen the rune and hissed at Amelia, became a person and tried to leave with him… but the boy began to cry whenever she tried to take him away from Amelia. His attachment had already begun. Samantha dared not to honor it, but she felt compelled. It was a true attachment that Simon had made with Amelia. Samantha would have to… just stay with him, until he no longer wanted Amelia.

That day didn’t come soon enough. “And why the bloody hell am I thinking about that anyway?”

“Because that boy loved you more than himself and you betrayed him. Alrick would be disgusted at what you’ve become,” a voice that sounded like hers said. She turned and saw her own reflection in a clear waterfall that read like a mirror. “You want to bring him back, but you wouldn’t be the woman he left behind. He wouldn’t want to come back to you. You’re a monster. You’re a fiend. You’re worse than the people who killed him. You’ve done terrible things to all forms of life, even to children, even to a boy who would have given his life for you, and you’ve done it in Alrick’s name… He would curse himself if he knew that teaching you magic would lead to this.”

“Shut UP!” Amelia lunged and stabbed the waterfall to rid herself of her pesky reflection. “Magic cunt.” She marched away, angrily. “Alrick saw the best in me. Whenever nobody else did. He was kind and loving and supportive. They killed him for being different! They didn’t care that he was kind, because he broke their stupid laws. He didn’t KNOW! He thought that being able to access and conduct magic meant that he was entitled to it. He thought that if not, magic would not have worked and for exposing the lie that only magical born people could use magic, they murdered him and pretended it was an accident. Brought me his body and an apology. A silly excuse. He fell off of a horse and it trampled him… He wouldn’t have fallen had he not been detained in the first place!” 

“Well, what about Simon? What did he do to make you hate him?” Another voice said. It wasn’t as familiar as her own, but she heard it through the pendant, several times. She turned to see the Princess. But, she was the way that she had seen her in the vision. She was adorned in purple and gold, with a high headdress and jewelry covering her flesh. “You raised him, then you sent him to die.”

“I sent him to kill YOU!” 

“Why? Why did Simon have to kill this princess?”

“SHE WAS GOING TO TAKE HIM AWAY FROM ME!” The Grace-being stood tall as Amelia came towards her. “Some innocent, by chance meeting in the enchanted forest. He would have seen her and fallen instantly. He would have flirted with her. He would have started changing his ways from being around her. He would have begun lying to me to get back to see her. He would have convinced her to run away with him. From her throne. And from me.”

“And if you couldn’t have him, nobody could?”

“No matter what, I couldn’t stop their destinies from being intertwined. So, I tried to make him sever that entanglement. He owed me faithfulness. He owed me his life! I saved him! I made him who he is.”

The being turned into a version of Amelia and she shrugged, “But, he’s rubbish, thanks to you, isn’t he?” Amelia roared and swung the staff to dissipate the haunting. “I’m not leaving here, no matter WHAT YOU DO!” She screamed to whomever was responsible for the magic making her have to look inside and at herself. The scenery of the portion of the cavern she was in changed colors and arrangement. She fumed and continued in the direction she thought that she was going in…

Lucy whimpered when she lost the others. Where were they? Why was she alone? “Grace?” she called. She saw lights up ahead and she went to check on them. It was a crowded event, with a stage of performers, singing and dancing. 

“Lucy!” Someone whispered loudly and waved her over. 

“Mommy?” She wondered and went over. The woman collected her in her lap, kissed her on the cheek and said, “This is a great show, Dear. Just sit here and watch it with me and I’ll protect you.”

“Protect me from what?” Lucy wondered. She felt like there was definitely something here that was dangerous, something she was supposed to be helping to fight… Helping who though? How did she get here? Wasn’t her Mommy gone somewhere?

“Shhhh. Just enjoy the show, Baby Bird.” The woman kissed her on her left eye and Lucy touched her face. She had two eyes! Of course she did. Everyone had two eyes… Of course she did. 

“When I look at you, I see me,” the music was singing. Lucy settled into her mother's lap and smiled at the show that she was watching.

.

“Lucy!” 

“GRACE!” 

After the noise of the portals taking the children in her care away stopped, The Queen sighed and said, “They’re safe. Now, let me at the bitch that killed my husband…”


End file.
